Did they jump or were they pushed?
Tarquin Bennett-Coles, Business Director Clinical & Medical, DOCS International UK
Current statistics show that a staggering 42% of the UK workforce is planning to change jobs within the next year. How do you cope as an organisation if you suddenly have an unexpected departure?
Recruiting a new person can be a time-consuming, tedious and
expensive process. Notice periods for senior staff have continued to increase and can be up to six months or more which can add a significant amount of time to the process of finding a replacement.
It is also a risky venture. Current figures show that 20% of people leave a new role within six months of service and of these, almost 65% go because they are at odds with the company culture or have a personality clash with an existing member of the team.
Even when people stay for a year or more, it is often the case that the decision to leave sooner rather than later is effectively taken in the first weeks of employment. Poor recruitment and selection decisions, both on the part of the employee and employer, are usually to blame, along with badly designed or non-existent induction programmes.
So what can you do during the recruitment process to try and avoid this happening within your organisation? Before thinking about how to secure a replacement it is always worthwhile spending some time considering why the previous employee left the company. Feedback and analysis of the reasons may be crucial in retaining any new staff.
Previous feedback and exit interviews
Employees resign for many different reasons. Sometimes it is the attraction of a new job or the prospect of a period outside the workforce, which 'pulls' them; on other occasions they are 'pushed' because of dissatisfaction in their present jobs. Sometimes it is a mixture of both pull and push factors.
For a fourth group, reasons for leaving are entirely explained by domestic circumstances outside the control of any employer, as is the case when someone relocates with their spouse or partner.
Recent research strongly suggests that push factors are a great deal more significant in most resignations than many managers appreciate. It is relatively rare for people to leave jobs in which they are happy, even when offered higher pay elsewhere. Most staff has a preference for stability.
It is important to appreciate that the reasons people give for their resignations are frequently untrue or only partially true. The use of exit interviews is widespread yet they are notoriously unreliable, particularly when conducted by someone who may later be asked to write a reference for the departing employee.
Where exit interviews are used it is best to conduct them a short time after the employees hand in their notice. The interviewer should not be a manager who has had responsibility for the individual and who will not be involved in future reference writing. Confidentiality should be assured and the purpose of the interview explained.
Alternative approaches involve the use of confidential attitude surveys, which include questions about intention to leave, and questionnaires sent to former employees on a confidential basis around six months after their departure. The information gained from this can be helpful when planning your recruitment campaign
The next step is to consider how you are going to recruit someone. There are a number of different options to choose from – a direct advertisement, personal contacts of current staff, or employing a recruitment company. Some companies now use an employee incentive program that offers staff a monetary sum for helping to recruit a new employee.
If you have tried to recruit directly or have failed to find the right person and time is an issue then using a professional recruitment company maybe the next step.
Clear expectations
The next step is to consider the interview stage and the importance of finding out as much important information as possible from the candidates being seen.
For instance, it is essential that the individuals have a clear idea of what they are looking for in moving. Why have they decided not to stay with their existing employer? Are they really serious about moving or are they just interested in benchmarking their salary? If they change their company and role, is their partner informed and comfortable with the change? This is important or you can find the process falling down at a later stage because they have not fully discussed the impact the move would have on them.
Do you have a well-written job description for the new role? Is there a professional development structure? A lack of training and developmental opportunities are also major reasons for voluntary turnover. In the recent CIPD retention and recruitment survey, 44% of respondents cited 'promotion outside the organisation' as a main cause of labour turnover, 40% highlighted 'change of career' and 37% 'lack of career of developmental opportunities'1.
Does their expectation match up to the client’s? Expectations are often raised too high during the recruitment process, leading people to compete for and subsequently to accept jobs for which they are in truth unsuited. Organisations do this in order to ensure that they fill their vacancies with sufficient numbers of well-qualified people as quickly as possible. However, over the longer term the practice is counter-productive as it leads to costly, avoidable turnover and the development of a poor reputation in their particular market
Candidates will be extremely keen to know both these are in place - it’s essential that there is no miscommunication at this stage as it could lead to disappointment on either side.
Even minor points may need to be discussed early on. Do you have an email policy? If so, then this should be highlighted to avoid misunderstandings later about content and tone. Email traffic is increasingly cited as an issue for new employees.
Clear communication is of paramount importance – making promises on either side which cannot be kept will only lead to a further breakdown – either during the recruitment process or even after employment has commenced.
Personality
As well as the more formal job-related aspects of the interview, it is vital to get to know short-listed candidates as people, to see if there will be mutual interests within the team beyond the workplace. Sharing an enthusiasm for a hobby or interest can be a valuable way to integrate a new person with people already in post.
Looking back to the existing team, have you conducted an internal team audit? There are a number of specialist companies – for example Belbin – which can help to assess teams in order to identify what type of personality is needed to boost the team and, very importantly, what type of personality might lead to conflict.
Belbin is headed by Dr R. Meredith Belbin, one of the world’s leading gurus on team building. Organisations such as this offer such services as online testing of team roles, consulting services and training courses. This could be a cost-effective way forward when you consider the time and money invested in recruitment campaigns that don’t work out.
Will a candidate fit in?
Another way of checking out personality fit and avoiding personality clash – is to conduct personality or psychometric tests. There are many different types including Enneagram Tests, 16 Type Jung Tests, Big Five Tests, Personality Disorder Test, Compatibility Tests and Eysenck Personality Tests.
Competency–based Interviews (CBIs) can also be helpful in resolving any potential personality clashes. These consist of a structured series of questions aimed at gathering information on the competencies that are considered critical to fulfil a job role successfully.
It is different from a traditional biographical interview in that it will focus on particular skills and attributes instead of exploring a CV. CBI has been designed to help candidates share specific past examples of work, academic or social situations relating to these critical competencies. It requires a focus on situations, which have been approached in a successful way, as well as on situations that might have needed a better approach.
From the candidate’s clear description of a situation and an outline of competency demonstrated, it is possible to assess someone’s ability to cope with stress and to discover how the candidate responds.
Interviews
Face to face interviews are another excellent way to assess a candidate in more detail. It is important to consider who should be involved and at which stage. If a recruitment company is being used, it may be that they carry out first interviews and then involve company members at the second stage.
It is important to use the line managers who will manage the new person early on in the interview process. Recent CIPD research highlights the importance of front line managers and how their behaviour relates directly to the levels of commitment, motivation and satisfaction reported by employees.
A poor relationship with a line manager can be an important reason for individuals leaving, but its significance can be concealed in exit interviews, as mentioned above. There are many different theories on what an interview should cover but the structure should include:
Welcome – Relax the candidate, build rapport, and keep this brief but polite and two- way.
Acquire – Ask for information, open questions, discuss their background, their CV and find out about their STAR achievements (situation, task, action and result). This is the opportunity for you to really listen to their answers and to clarify their responses where necessary.
Supply – This is the section where you give the candidates the chance to hear about the role, company and expectations from you. This can often include a Q&A element.
Part - This is where you cover what is next, also what the time frames are for the process. Be clear in managing their expectations, be polite and courteous telling them when they can expect to hear about the next stage. Do not tell them they are the “best candidate” you have seen or that you will not be proceeding unless you are certain of the next step.
Within any interview it is also important to look for any examples of behaviour that may indicate a negative trait for the role and a strong indicator of future performance is past behaviour.
Effective interviewing or competency based interviewing should help to identify any potential issues. Spotting these is essential in trying to avoid clashes later on and can include such factors as discounting the word “no”, symptoms of not telling the truth like too many details, type casting other employees and making unsolicited promises.
Social mix
Another measure that some people use to see if a new team member will fit into the existing structure is to invite the new person to a social gathering attended by the team.
Holding this informally off-site is a good idea, so that everyone can relax and see how the team gels away from the workplace. If the new candidate or the existing employees do not mix at all in this relaxed environment then it is a very strong indicator that they will not bond during a working day when other pressures are on them.
Once the candidate has accepted the job, it is important before they start, to make them feel welcome and help them into their new role. Perhaps some material can be sent out to them in advance
The recruitment consultant should remain in close contact at this stage and they should keep you appraised of how the candidate is feeling. Motivation often dips after the acceptance of a new role and having a sympathetic third party to discuss the emotions they are dealing with, is an often crucial but overlooked part of the recruitment process. Also an internal induction programme should be planned for when they join, with training opportunities and a chance to reflect on the new role.
For companies and individuals sometimes a probationary period is a good idea. This allows for the dust to settle, as it can be a few months before a problem arises. This type of agreement can help to address potential issues before a difficulty becomes permanent. Similarly it might be appropriate to invite applicants to work in the role before committing themselves.
As they settle in, ongoing reviews at set points can be helpful in giving everyone the chance to address any potential challenges. Once on board, maximise the opportunities for the employee to develop their skills and move on in their careers. Where promotions are not feasible, look for sideways moves that vary experience and make the work more interesting.
Where possible, avoid the development of a culture of ‘presenteeism’ where people feel obliged to work longer hours then are necessary simply to impress management. Evaluation of commitment should be based on results achieved and not on hours put in.
Lastly, to have the best chance of retaining your staff, defend your organisation against headhunters and others seeking to poach them.
Keep internal e-mail addresses confidential, train telephonists to spot calls from agents and to avoid giving them useful information: refuse to do business with recruitment companies who have poached your staff; and enter into pacts with other employers not to poach each other’s staff.
For more information on this topic then please contact Tarquin Bennett-Coles, Business Director Clinical & Medical, DOCS International UK: Tarquin.bennett-Coles@docs-int.com.
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