In times of rapid digitalization of businesses, a chronic shortage of digital talent is no surprise. Demand for digital talent is exploding while the skills gap is growing. So, it is not coming as a shock to anyone that finding and recruiting digital talent is tough (let me just remind you at this point to appreciate your recruiters!). But do you know what’s tougher? Retaining it. Here we are, we have landed some top digital talent. Now, how do we improve our chances of keeping them on board in this world of job-hopping madness? Well, I hate to disappoint you but there is no such thing as a talent retention secret sauce.
Re-recruit Your Top Current Talent
How likely do you think it is that your top digital talent is getting calls and messages from other recruiters? It’s not just likely, it’s happening. Even if your employees are loyal and don’t actively look for a job change, they are still being contacted by recruiters from other organizations. Thus, you need to ensure that the best offer made to your employees continuously comes from you.
Change of Pace
Don’t allow your employees to get stuck in a rut. Bored talent has one foot out the door. So, it is important to assess and re-design their current roles every so often or simply offer them a brand-new challenge. Doing this will help keep your talent excited and energised. When a new internal position is offered to an employee, it is important to sell that role. An external recruiter will sell your talent their exciting opportunities, so you need to do the same thing internally by having internal recruiters proactively contact your top talent.
Target the Right People
Re-recruiting efforts take up resources, so you need to ensure you prioritize your targets. Focus on the talent you can’t afford to lose; top performers, hustlers, game-changers, innovators, and trailblazers. The difficult-to-replace talent and the talent that adds unmistakable value to your business is the talent you need to focus your re-recruitment efforts on.
Recognition, Recognition, Recognition
I cannot say this enough. This is a constantly recurring factor throughout my blogs and articles. Your talent has feelings. They are not robots, they are not computers, they require attention and recognition. You need to constantly re-sell your business, so make yourself a good employer and praise your talent. Your top employees need to know how important they are to the business and that their work is appreciated. Praise your talents’ contributions periodically.
Your People Team Is Key
Your HR team and your recruiters must be responsible and accountable for the re-recruitment process. They must use their expertise to work closely with managers of top performers and advise them how to best implement re-recruitment approaches and offers, such as more flexibility, more challenging projects, or a new exciting role. It is important to track progress and learn from what works and what doesn’t. What seems to have excited employees during past re-recruiting efforts? Should re-recruiting efforts be personalized? What do employees not seem to care for at all? Update and improve the methods continuously.
Job-hopping is common today and even more so amongst digital and tech talent, which is in high demand. Beyond re-recruiting your top talent as part of your retention strategy, it is important to maintain a proactive recruitment strategy aimed toward future hiring needs. Research Partners’ talent pipelining services can help you plan for your short-, mid-, and long-term talent needs.
Featured Image by Charles Forerunner on Unsplash
