Retaining talent is our topic today on the Rebus Recruitment blog. In a skills-short financial landscape, finding and hiring the right employees is just one of the challenges business leaders face. To stay ahead of the competition and achieve crucial business success, organisations must know how to retain their staff effectively.
An inability to retain crucial talent significantly impacts virtually every aspect of a company’s growth. Replacing a key employee costs time and money, and; high levels of turnover can harm the morale, productivity, and performance of your remaining team.
Unfortunately, retention is an area many companies are struggling with, particularly in an age influenced by the Great Resignation. In 2022, a record 4.5 million people quit their roles in the US alone, and many staff members began searching for new roles.
Fortunately, there are ways you can increase employee retention rates. Here are several ways that work.
1. Develop a Strong Onboarding and Induction Process
It’s easy to overlook the importance of an effective onboarding process, particularly after you’ve spent months searching for the right employee. However, a good onboarding strategy is crucial for a number of reasons. First, it ensures your team members have the skills, resources, and support they need to perform well in their roles.
Secondly, a good onboarding process actively influences retention rates. One study found that excellent onboarding can improve retention by up to 82%. Take the time to implement an onboarding process that nurtures and supports your new hires.
Introduce your employees to your organisation’s culture, values, processes, and systems as soon as they begin working with your team. Ensure they have access to tools and resources that will help them to thrive in your company. For instance, you could assign mentors to new hires that help them to expand their knowledge and learn more about the company culture or offer access to a range of development and training tools.
2. Foster a Positive Work Culture
Company culture is a crucial factor employees consider when choosing whether to work or stay with a business. Studies show that 46% of job seekers value company culture when looking for a role, and 88% say healthy company culture is vital to their success.
Today’s finance employees want to work in an environment that fosters teamwork, knowledge-sharing, development, and growth. Additionally, many are beginning to look for evidence of diversity, equity, and inclusion within company values. Around 3 out of 4 employees say that they prefer to work at companies that are diverse and inclusive.
Look for ways to make every member of your team feel respected and welcomed, from implementing recognition and reward programmes to investing in team-building exercises.
3. Offer Competitive Compensation and Benefits
While today’s finance employees are looking for more than just a good salary for their roles, they want to know they’re being paid what they’re worth. Investing in the right remuneration and benefits strategy shows your team members you value them and makes it less likely they’ll start looking for other opportunities elsewhere.
Regularly benchmark salaries in your industry to ensure your financial professionals are receiving the compensation they deserve based on their skills and experience. At the same time, remember to think carefully about the benefits and perks you can offer.
A good benefits package, which includes things like retirement plans, flexible work arrangements, and comprehensive development plans, will improve employee engagement. It’s also a great way to enhance your employee value proposition and attract more talent to your team.
4. Enable Professional Growth
Finance employees are less likely to stay with companies if they don’t see a future with the business. Every professional wants to know they’ll have opportunities to progress, grow, and develop their skills when working with an employer. With this in mind, it’s important to have a strategy in place for constantly developing and training your teams.
Set realistic expectations for career progression with your new hires from the moment they join your team, and work with them to create plans for growth. Introduce them to opportunities for promotion and succession, and implement training plans to help them reach their goals.
Investing in consistent training and development, such as workshops, certifications, and online courses, will help to make your team members more effective in their roles. At the same time, it will also improve your retention rates. According to one study, 46% of professionals said they’re more likely to leave a business without a commitment to upskilling and reskilling.
5. Promote Work-Life Balance
As mentioned above, the priorities of finance employees have changed over the years. Particularly since the pandemic, many team members have begun searching for empathetic employers willing to support their mental and physical health.
Showing a commitment to work-life balance is an excellent way for any employer to attract more talent to their team. It’s also one of the best ways to ensure your employees aren’t encouraged to leave your business due to high levels of stress and burnout.
Experiment with different strategies to improve work-life balance, such as implementing flexible working schedules and remote work options where they make sense. Consider investing in wellness programs, mental health resources, and other tools that will help preserve team well-being.
6. Commit to Regular Communication and Feedback
Consistent communication and feedback are crucial to retaining and engaging employees. Every finance employee needs to be able to communicate openly and transparently with their team to feel like a valuable part of the workforce. With this in mind, foster an environment where finance professionals are comfortable voicing opinions and concerns.
Pay attention to the feedback your team members share, and implement changes to your work processes based on their insights. Crucially, make sure you’re providing plenty of constructive feedback too. Positive feedback can help to improve motivation levels and employee satisfaction scores. 82% of employees say they’re happier at work when they feel recognised.
Constructive criticism and performance reviews give team members the guidance they need to consistently improve their performance and become more valuable to your team.
Ramp Up Your Employee Retention Rates
Retaining top financial professionals in today’s competitive environment isn’t easy. With countless companies fighting to attract the same talent, today’s team members have more options to choose from for employment than ever before.
However, if you implement the steps above, you can ensure the amazing candidates you find with the help of your financial recruitment team are more likely to stick with your business.
Thanks,
Rachel
About Rebus Financial Recruitment
Rebus Financial Recruitment provides a specialist and focused recruitment service to its customers, ranging from various organisations, including SMEs, to large PLCs.
We strive to offer both the client and candidate a seamless recruitment experience. Using our expertise, we get to the heart of employer and employee needs, and, in doing so, we match the two perfectly.
To learn more, contact one of our team today, or call us on 01282 930930.
