Hiring is one of the most expensive things your company can do. The cost of vacant seats in your business can be eye-watering and filling those chairs with appropriate talent can be costly and tough. This is especially true when the vacant position is that of a senior manager or business leader.
It’s therefore the goal of HR professionals to retain senior business leaders for as long as possible. After all, you don’t need to spend money recruiting new talent if no one is leaving your business.
Staff turnover can’t be completely avoided, but one of the best ways to minimise its impact on your business is through using HR software.
HR software lets HR teams pre-empt when a member of senior management is going to leave your company. This foresight lets you put processes in place to find their replacement before they leave.
Not only does HR software help ease management workload leading to happier staff, it also gives business leaders a way to communicate with their company and makes employees active members of their company’s culture.
We’ll go into detail about all the ways HR software can help retain management in this article and explore why lots of senior management are choosing now (late 2021 / early 2022) to move companies.
2020 and 2021 have been crazy years for businesses. Successive lockdowns, furlough and remote working have all irreversibly changed the way companies operate and how employees want to be treated.
Now that we’re coming out the other side of the pandemic, employees and senior managers are capitalising on the increased vacant jobs in the UK (vacant positions surpassed 1 million in July 2021) to find a role which is better suited to their needs.
These needs could be a better salary, more work-life balance, a better company culture or any number of things. The post-pandemic jobs market is candidate-driven and this means employers need to work hard to make sure their best talent doesn’t set off for pasture new.
Sticking an air hockey table in the office won’t cut it, to make sure you retain your best talent you should look at investing in some new HR software. We’ll go into the benefits in the next section.
Keeping hold of your best staff can be tough, especially in a candidate-driven market and particularly if they know how good they are.
Some staff turnover is inevitable and it shouldn’t be feared. It’s far better for your employees to leave your business on good terms and be an advocate for your culture in their new office as opposed to them leaving under a dark cloud.
That being said, you do want to minimise your staff turnover as much as possible and work your hardest to keep your best staff for as long as you can. HR software can help with this and we’ll go over 3 ways it can in this section of the article.
If you’re looking to invest in some new HR software but don’t know where to start, our HR System Selection tool can point you in the right direction.
HR software comes with many tools and features that can help your HR department gather data on your employees satisfaction and happiness at work. You can gather this data using surveys, anonymous feedback forms and regular workplace questionnaires.
Not only does this information give you a macro view of the happiness of your workforce, but it can also show you when a specific member of staff is unhappy and whether they’ve been unhappy in their role for an extended period of time.
If they have, they’re much more likely to leave your company. Spotting this early means you can bring them in for a chat to get to the root causes of their unhappiness and put a plan in place to get them back to being an engaged and happy member of your team.
Another main cause of employee turnover is work-related stress. Manager’s have had a rough 18 months. Things like remote working, managing distributed teams and approving holidays in a pandemic are all things that add extra stress to an already stressful role.
Operating a new web-based management platform or on-boarding new staff members virtually gives many managers headaches. A lack of tech innovation in a business can lead to them leaving for a more tech savvy competitor.
Some new HR software can make these processes a breeze and help your managers regain time in their day to think about more important problems. This can help retain your staff as it shows them you’re actively working to make their conditions better and staff that feel valued tend to stay longer.
Communicating important updates and managing social activities is a lot easier through some HR software. Creating a vibrant and friendly company culture which champions the values and ethos of your company is a sure fire way to get your employees to stay.
Your culture can be communicated and reinforced easily and effectively through your HR software. Whether it’s company announcements, social activities or regular internal newsletters, using HR software to build a friendly and supportive workplace is one of the best ways to entice your top tier employees into staying.
If your HR department is going to be focusing on retention KPIs in 2022, new HR software can be a great asset. Better employee data and communication channels can greatly increase the average time your employees stay at your company. This metric is especially important when considering highly skilled, managerial staff.
If you’d like to invest in some new HR software but don’t know where to start Phase 3 can help. We’re a HR technology consultancy that helps businesses get the most out of their digital HR tools. To find out how we can help you contact us here.
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Laura’s role as Head of Marketing sees her continually looking for new opportunities to tell the world how great Phase 3 is.
