Creating a great team requires a lot of investment, and not just money. It requires time and effort as well as resources, but it takes more than just investing those resources in recruiting. Even the best teams can get bored, frustrated, or just interested in other opportunities to see where their careers can take them. That makes them passive candidates, ripe for the picking – but that can be turned to the advantage of the candidate’s present employer by re-recruiting these talented employees before looking outside the company.
It all starts with being the best place to work and giving employees a compelling reason to come in to work every day. Yes, Google’s free food is nice, but so are challenging projects that allow employees to use their skillsets and play to their strengths. Without that engagement at work, they start looking for that challenge elsewhere. That requires a plan to energize the talent, boosting morale, productivity – and the company’s revenues as well.
Becoming a company with low turnover and that keeps the best talent starts with accessible, empowered management. Employees feel comfortable approaching management and executives, and managers work directly with their teams to identify those who excel or demonstrate best practices. They recognize those team members and celebrate work milestones, particularly by serving their employees lunch.
There are a few other areas where companies can create a culture that re-recruits their best talent. Some of those ways are to pay well, based on the employee’s skill level, and to know the market value of staff members. Employees that retain their talent also provide opportunities for their staff for professional development, paid volunteer time (whether it’s to allow the employee to volunteer by herself or with a group of employees), and generous personal time and perks like gym memberships or trips.
While developing the re-recruiting plan is important, it also needs to be viewed as a living document. As the job climate and needs of the workforce change, so should the plan. That way it can always guide the company on how to provide the best offers to its current employees. Here are four steps to creating the plan:
- Start with a goal, then develop strategy. Sometimes, companies may want to pull in an external recruiter to assist.
- Figure out and start prioritizing opportunities for top talent to be promoted or moved to positions that better allow them to use their skills and pursue their interests.
- Stop turnover by identifying the employees likely to leave, then create personalized retention plans for each of those employees.
- Identify who would be a good candidate for re-recruiting.
Reenergizing team members is what makes re-recruiting different from retention. The team member has renewed enthusiasm for her position, much like a new employee. This helps prevent frustration and also allows companies to identify current employees who would likely thrive in open positions. Companies end up investing in their staff, and as a result, turnover decreases while profits and productivity increase.
