The Great Attrition is making it more difficult to hire top talent. And now more than ever, the fierce competition for talent and retention strategies has become crucial. 

Suddenly, there has been a fluctuation in the employment landscape due to a critical talent shortage; employees are quitting, switching jobs and industries, embarking on sabbaticals, emigrating, and retiring early. For this reason, there is a growing concern amongst business leaders and HR on how to develop strategies to aid employee retention, build a talent pool and manage them. 

When high-performing employees resign, their exit could negatively affect a company’s metrics, culture, and market standing. Hence, crafting an effective retention strategy can help manage talent, optimise productivity and address these challenges before they even arise. 

An effective employee retention strategy embodies tactical steps to maintain employees’ motivation and attention so they choose to stay employed and productive. 

While some employers still rely on traditional procedures and processes to recruit and retain talent, top-performing businesses are deploying multifaceted tactics to optimise their talent and motivate them to stay on board and advance alongside the company’s success. 

By doing this, they not only increase their employee engagement, revenue and boost productivity but also help attract even more qualified talent. 

A  recent survey focused on personnel from different countries to understand why employees leave or stay revealed that these talent desire more than the typical pay and career growth incentives. 

It is vital to have a deep knowledge of the factors that cause today’s employees to leave their employment, whether or not you are currently having trouble retaining and attracting talent. 

How do you expand your talent pool? How do you keep employees motivated amid the Great Resignation era? In this article are proven strategies to help you expand your talent pool, mitigate turnover and improve employee retention. 

 Optimising Talent Pool

Some industries are losing talent disproportionately, some are having trouble attracting potential, and others are struggling with both. 

Unfortunately, there is a decrease in the number of active job seekers and turnover rates gaining momentum as a result of burnout, lack of recognition, value misalignment, non-competitive pay, leadership structure, lack of professional growth opportunities, etc. 

Amid the Great Resignation, organisations must have a safety net when dealing with talent. A safety net in this context is simply your talent pool or expanding it to gain access to the best talent. 

Employers need to be more creative with their offers to current and prospective employees and exhibit different aspects of their employee value proposition to a larger group of workers. 

It is predicted  that in 2022, 23% of workers will continue seeking employment. As a business leader, you have the opportunity to leverage and expand your pool with the right strategies in place. Workforce Learning has the perfect talent acquisition plans to help you scale your Workforce. 

Today, recruiting is now a corporate-wide activity rather than merely the responsibility of the HR division. Hence, talent acquisition managers and recruiters have a huge role in getting qualified talent, considering the limited pool of candidates. 

You do not want to afford to lose top talent; instead, you want to ensure your organisation is fully optimized with the best talent since organisations today place a greater emphasis than ever on employee retention. 

How to Address Attrition and Expand Your Talent Pool

Many organisations assume that retention strategies are all tied to benefits and compensation, but this is not entirely true as businesses can deploy several other tactics to reduce employee attrition, attract qualified talent and improve the employee experience. 

1. Sharpen Value Proposition 

Sharpen Value proposition 

Many organisations rely on bonuses as a retention strategy in creating means to aid employee retention. In essence, they see incentives or money as a key factor in enticing talent. However, while organisations may focus on pay, title, career paths and benefits, they also need to prioritise having pleasant leaders and improving the employees’ experience. 

Your employee value proposition should include flexibility and humanism to entice workers who feel your company no longer matches their needs. You can consider partnering with an HR expert like Workforce Learning to design a profound value proposition 

2. Utilise Software

By deploying the right recruiting automation tools, you can easily build an up-to-date  and diverse talent pool for open and future opportunities. In addition, these technologies provide numerous benefits that include finding and screening qualified applicants. 

3. Give Employee a Personal Stake

For starters, employees need to understand how your company generates revenue as this can help them feel personally invested in the business as you.  

Employers should consider making high-performing staff who consistently add value as part owners in the company. When there is a connection to the business, the high-performers are compelled to be the greatest leaders and revenue generators they can be. Deploying this strategy can significantly aid retention. 

4. Broaden Talent Sourcing Approach

Radically expand your talent pool through a variety of approaches and sources. It’s also crucial to reconsider what qualifies as ‘talent’ and what factors indicate long-term success. For example, to attract talent that could otherwise be screened out, reduce or eliminate arbitrary constraints related to education, geography, or experience, and implement or increase the use of apprenticeships and other pipeline-building measures, like temporary employment. 

5. Hire Innate Talents and Be Willing to Invest in Training 

You can come across a candidate with the correct attitude, expertise, and problem-solving abilities but who falls short of a specific certification or set of skills. Once you have determined the abilities and talents required for a position, the ideal measure is to prioritise the qualities necessary to perform the job and those they can successfully acquire through training. Then commit to investing significantly in their learning and development. 

What We Can Do for You

Take guessing out of your recruitment strategy and start data-driven hiring. Your organisation cannot afford to keep recruiting candidates the same old way; instead, businesses require a well-thought plan to gain a competitive advantage and attract quality talent in today’s marketplace. 

Workforce learning helps you actualise your goals and provides excellent insight into the labour market, HR function benchmarks, best practices, and technologies created to speed up the execution process and guarantee the right talent your organisation needs to scale.

Olasunkanmi Adenuga

Olasunkanmi Adenuga

Director, Workforce Learning