How can I go about the pain of continuous recruitment?

I work in the Human Resources (HR) department, specifically with the recruitment and sourcing team. I have worked with the company for two years.  The company is well known and completes many recruitments every year. In my work, I have noticed that the people who join us only stay for a short time, approximately two years to 2.5 years. This means that we are constantly recruiting, which is time-consuming and costly, and now I see that some of my colleagues no longer put in the effort when participating in the process. I want to help but do not know how, and I do not want to cause a problem by sharing new ideas as I am still considered “new”. What advice can you give me? Mathew

Hello Mathew, it is a good thing when a team member notices something is wrong. Usually, someone relatively new to an organisation will take note because they are coming into the organisation with fresh eyes.

A person leaving an organisation is influenced by many things ranging from poor pay to uncomfortable work schedules, too much workload, not fitting with the company and their relationship with their supervisor. Many of the causes may be out of your control, but one area you are accountable for is ensuring you have good recruitment.

You should start by reviewing your current recruitment process and asking if it has any gaps. This should be your reflection. Consider doing some research on the latest best practices. Over the last two years, this area has become very innovative.  It will then be essential to share your idea with the team in a casual conversation and see if they are open to discussing new ways of working. It would be best if you also discussed the same with your supervisor. Some helpful suggestions that can be considered may include the following:

• Raising awareness of who is responsible for recruitment. Many believe it is HR alone, yet it is a partnership between HR and the team that needs the vacancy filled.

• Review exit interviews to understand why people have left. If the reason concerns role expectations (workload, pay, supervisor management), then the respective team leaders must look at this.

• In response to the above, work with managers to review job descriptions to make sure they are accurate and reflect the role accurately

• Have a clear list of the different types of assessments that can be used to assess applicants and ensure everyone who participates in recruitment understands what each review is trying to validate.

• You may want to consider specific sourcing platforms/forums for particular jobs or levels of jobs so that you have the right quality of applicants.

• You may also consider introducing an internship and graduate training program where your organisation can start identifying and nurturing talent that will move into permanent employment on completion, provided positions are available.

The important note here is to work with the team and help them recognise good recruitment’s importance. While you may not influence why people leave by doing some of the above, you reduce the likelihood of high turnover. Good luck.

Caroline Mboijana, Managing Director, The Leadership Team (U)  [email protected]