Blog
Improving Employee Retention (pretty important when it costs 4000 quid to recruit someone!)
29th September 2009
The CIPD (yes, that bunch again!) has just published the results of its annual Recruitment, Retention and Turnover survey into current and emerging trends in people resourcing practice.
Although the report contains a bewildering array of data, many of the results are both surprising and thought-provoking:
Recruitment Difficulties
• Despite the recession, which has understandably led to a dramatic decrease in the number of vacancies being filled, a high proportion (81%) of those recruiting still experienced recruitment difficulties.
• The key reason for recruitment difficulties is lack of specialist skills.
• These problems are most commonly overcome by appointing people with some of the skills and then growing them into the job role.
Attracting and selection candidates
• The most commonly used methods for attracting candidates are through the organisation’s own corporate website (78%), recruitment agencies (76%) and local newspaper advertisements (70%)
• Competency based interviews (69%) and interviews following contents of a CV/application form (68%) are the most frequently used selection methods.
• The average cost of filling a vacancy per employee is £4,000
Resourcing in turbulent times
• 56% of organisations are concentrating more retaining than recruiting talent.
• 40% of organisations say that they will recruit fewer people in 2009 than in 2008.
• 72% of respondents think that employers will use the downturn as an opportunity to get rid of poor performers and bring about culture change.
Insourcing or outsourcing?
• Having a better resourcing capability in-house and regaining control of the employer brand and candidates’ experience of the organisation are the main reasons for bringing resourcing activities back in house. (Editors comment: who writes this unintelligible stuff? I take it that you mean that companies have realised that they can do a better job of recruiting than when they pay someone else to do it?)
Welfare-to-work initiatives
• 99% of respondents have heard of Jobcentre Plus, but only 20% think it helps them recruit.
Diversity
• Public sector employers are more aware of how diversity affects recruitment, with 91% of public sector organisations having a diversity strategy.
Labour turnover
• The overall labour turnover rate is 15.7% which is a significant reduction from the previous year’s rate of 17.3%. Labour turnover is highest in the private sector, with a turnover rate of 16.8%. Mind-bogglingly, labour turnover in the hotel, catering and leisure industry is running at 34%, but even that is a decrease on the previous year’s figure of 41%.
• Promotion into a position outside the company is the main reason (50%) why individuals leave an organisation.
Retention
• Last year, 80% of organisations experienced difficulty in holding onto staff. This year it’s dropped to 69%
• Managers and professional employees are the categories that organisations find it most difficult to hold onto.
• To keep hold of staff who may be considering leaving, the most commonly used methods to remedy this are increased learning and development opportunities (47%), improving the induction process (45%), increasing pay (42%) and improving selection techniques (42%)
• The most effective method of improving retention is, according to respondents, improving the HR skills of line managers. Only 39% claim to be doing this though!
A few further questions on the HR Case Studies site, though if you click the Developing and Retaining and Effective Workforce label (right hand side) you’ll bring up a number of items about retention.