The (UK) is currently going through a shortage in terms of skilled workers available to work. Research conducted by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) showed that 71% of businesses within the service sector were finding it difficult to hire the appropriately skilled workers. Because of this, companies have had to ‘battle’ between themselves in order to source the best possible employees. This has led to the government announcing that they will invest £550 million a year into technical education, in an attempt to increase the number of skilled workers. However, even though there might be an increase in skilled workers the trick to ensuring success for a business will be long-term retention of staff members.
In terms of hiring new staff, businesses can struggle to source, interview and hire the best talent. This is due to the pool of employees not being big enough to provide healthy competition to generate the best outcome for the employer. Therefore it is critical that an employee starts life within the business in the best possible manner. This requires a thorough plan of integration to ensure the employee is settled within the business correctly.
Once a business has hired a skilled worker, arguably the hardest and most important work begins, the talent management. The first six weeks after hiring are a crucial time, due to the fact that this is when up to 20% of employee turnover occurs. This is concurrent with research undertaken which demonstrates that 54% of UK employees would consider leaving a job within the first month due to poor management, 50% would leave because of misalignment of the job tasks compared to their expectations and 29% would leave due to the corporate culture not suiting them. These stats emphasise the importance of staff retention and talent management, and this is further emphasised by the fact that within the UK 27% of employees would leave their role during the probation period due to lack of onboarding and talent management (Statistics used from HR News).
Therefore, to ensure the skilled workers are retained within a business it is necessary for there to be a winning onboarding system that makes an employee feel fully integrated into the business. Organisations consequently need to take a proactive and structured approach into the onboarding process of new employees within the first couple of weeks within the business. Steps to ensure the thorough onboarding of skilled workers include; introductions and orientation on day-one, regular meetings, a business induction and regular catch-ups to make sure all is going well.
To ensure the success of a business in this current candidate-driven market, in terms of retaining skilled workers, the talent management needs to be of a high standard. The repercussions of not having this structure in place can cause a loss in productivity, costs and also damage morale within the workplace.
If you have any questions regarding skilled worker retention or talent management then please do not hesitate to contact one of our HPC team members:
T: 0844 800 5932
E: help@highpeformanceconsultancy.com
Twitter: @HPC_HRservices