51 Recruitment
When you are interviewing , make sure you tell the candidates everything : the challenges , the priorities and the relationships . And conversely , recognise where the gaps are with that potential employee , because they will have gaps . Ask yourself : are you hiring for now , or hiring for the long term ? If someone has gaps that are fixable , but you can ’ t deal with them in the next six months then you are just filling a seat . Remember , recruitment isn ’ t about getting bums on seats .
A game of attrition
The second half of the ticking bomb is attrition ; the people who would have left in 2021 , but didn ’ t because they didn ’ t have anywhere else to go to . You need to face facts : there are people in your organisation right now who want to leave , and they would have done so if it wasn ’ t for the pandemic .
There will always be natural wastage ; the people who simply can ’ t progress any higher because it ’ s the boss ( and their mate ) ahead of them and they aren ’ t going anywhere . These people will leave , it ’ s natural and if there ’ s nothing you can do about it , que sera sera . There will be people , however , who want to leave because they have been poorly managed or poorly led , and maybe people who you haven ’ t treated properly with a decent salary or given them the responsibility they need . As more and more jobs come into the market , these are the people who will be taking note , seeing what ’ s out there and they will leave you if and when a more attractive position comes up .
There is still time to address these issues . There has never been more of a need for HR than in 2021 . Do a temperature check now to see how your staff are . Get your HR , internal comms and senior management teams together and conduct an internal staff satisfaction survey , look at a Net Promotor Score-type analysis , and ask your staff what they need now , or you will lose them next year . Don ’ t ever guess or assume because you will get it wrong .
You can ’ t expect to hold on to every person , but you can act now to hold on to the ones that you can . 2022 will be like the Wild West , so make sure you have circled your wagons to protect your business and your team . CN www . conference-news . co . uk