Building on a recent discussion about the importance of generating employee loyalty, Kylee Russon, head of Star Employment Services, has some further guidance for prospective employers.
Employers need to recognise that it really is a candidate driven marketplace at the moment, especially for specific roles, such as sales.
There will always be more people to fill less skilled roles, often on lower wages, and the difference between them staying and showing loyalty to a company, rather than moving on could come down to as little as an additional 20p an hour. The same is true for a more skilled professional role – when recruiting anyone for any job it is imperative to offer the very best salary your company can afford.
I always encourage employers to offer the most they really can to candidates, even if that means a stretch. You will stand a far greater chance of keeping a good, well-paid candidate, than opting for a cheaper one who potentially will not have much loyalty towards you and the business.
All too often I see situations where a company might advertise a role at £20-25K, but when the candidate asks for £25K the company is unable to honour it. Employers get embarrassed about saying what they can afford but it is better to set correct expectations from the start.
Companies need to have a real look at the market and should expect to pay a bit more, especially for sales roles when good people really do drive a business forward. It’s always better to spend a bit more on a 10/10 candidate, than settle for a 7/10 person. Especially if the difference between the two is just an extra £1,000 p.a. requested by the better employee.
If you aim to get the best person for the best pay that you can, it will save having to re-advertise and re-hire.
It’s a challenging marketplace and here at Star Employment Services we’ve had to work at improving our own offering to keep good people, it’s important to stay inline with competitors and the general trends of the market.
Attracting quality candidates to apply for a role could just be about increasing the offering by £1,000 a year. Added to other benefits such as good holiday entitlement, a day off on your birthday, or actively recognising the importance of a healthy work/life balance are also key to attracting and retaining good employees. If we reward our employees then there is a higher probability they will do well for us. It’s a give and take relationship in the workplace.
It’s all about creating a balance. Especially with millennials, they know what they want and what they think they are worth.
Companies need to start acknowledging that a bit more.
