Attracting, recruiting and retaining top employees is extremely tough right now. The chances are your new hire was signed up with multiple agencies & job boards, and recently attended a number of interviews, putting pressure on you to pull out all the stops in order to entice them into your role & get them to stay once they start. So, you need to do everything you can to stop your new starters from being poached by another company or sweet talked by an agency about the “dream role” they are recruiting for.
You may think your job is complete once you make the hire, but the hard work actually starts here. Now, you need to live up to your new employees’ expectations. At this point, most employees only have one weeks’ notice period whilst in probation – so can easily leave the business, and often won’t need to work the week and leave on the spot.
So, how can you stop your new starters from being poached? There are a few key areas to look at here. From keeping contact with them during their notice period, to ensuring an effective onboarding process. Get this right and your new employee will settle in no problem. Get it wrong and you risk losing them to a competitor and having to start the process all over again.
We’ve put together 4 ways to ensure you are successful in retaining your new starters.
- Keep in contact after they have accepted the job
Fantastic news – your candidate has accepted your job offer! They probably have a notice period to work in their current job, and if they are senior – this could be up to 3 months. But that doesn’t mean you should wait until they start the job to speak to them again, far from it.
Send them an email with any business updates, show excitement about them joining the team. This period is critical for communication and making them feel welcome. Remember, their existing employer could swoop in and make them a counter-offer that they can’t refuse. So, the better rapport you build with them at this stage, the more excited & committed they feel about their new job.
- Eliminate first day nerves
Starting a new job is extremely nerve-wracking. Put yourself in the candidate’s shoes and consider what you’d want from a new employer on the first day of a job.
In the final week before they start, get in touch to ensure that they have all the necessary information. They know where to park, what time they need to arrive by, who to ask for on arrival, dress code and so on. While these might seem small, it can make a real difference.
Be sure to introduce them to their new colleagues as soon as possible.
- Create an onboarding plan
The best way to do this, is to put together a clear schedule for their first 2 weeks in the role. This will include dedicated training time, inductions & meeting key personnel. Alongside this, be sure to give them tasks to crack on with, so they feel they are adding value.
It is also important for new starters to have one-to-one time with their managers to discuss what is expected of them in the role and to go over any grey areas.
- Set clear goals
Every single employee in your company should have clear goals and objectives to work towards, this also applies to your new starters, as everyone is naturally far more productive when they have something to work towards.
This will also show that you value your new employee and they’ll be less likely to go snooping around for other job opportunities.
You should also focus on having ongoing career conversations in order to get the best out of all your employees.
What happens if your new starter does get poached?
Sadly, even if you do all the above, another company may swoop in and entice your new starter away. It’s just the nature of business and most of the time it is out of your hands.
If this happens to you and they choose to accept the offer, be sure to ask your employee for feedback. Is there anything that would have made them stay? Any issues you are not aware of? What has attracted them to the other role? All this will give you insights into why they have left and help your future hiring efforts.
Whatever you do don’t be bitter or show your anger. It’s your new starters career, not yours, so always stay professional and leave them with a positive impression of your company. You never know, you may be able to poach them back one day.
Take the above advice on board and you should stand a much better chance of retaining new starters and ultimately building a strong and stable team.
All the best,
Steve Wyeth 🚀