Could Retention Be More Important Than Recruitment in 2020

Last Updated: December 16, 2021

Is recruitment or retention more important? Healthcare HR executives think they have the answer. Does your company? Consider the cost and difficulty of hiring and the threat of talented workers leaving for new opportunities—and learn how you can fight back, 

Michael Klazema, Chief Marketing Technologist at VODW.

Which matters more: recruitment or retention? There’s no easy answer. As the economy still in strong shape, employers have to equip themselves with the technology to face the challenges of both recruitment and retention—and decide which piece of the puzzle matters more to them right now.

Ask healthcare professionals to weigh the importance of recruitment and retention, and you will get a clear answer: according to a recent survey of Human Resource executives in healthcare spaceOpens a new window , nine out of ten HR leaders in the industry believe that retention is more important to their organization’s success.

Is the retention of the new priority for employers?

Here are a few facts to consider.

  • Recruitment and hiring are extremely difficult. In a job seeker’s market, hiring top talent is as challenging as it has ever been. A decade ago, in the midst of the Great Recession, the national civilian unemployment rate was at 10.0 percent. It has tumbled precipitously in the years since. In September 2019, the national unemployment rate fell to 3.5 percent—a 50-year low, according to the White HouseOpens a new window .

In this environment, it is more difficult for employers to attract quality applicant pools and hire top-tier talent, making it critical for businesses to keep qualified, competent professionals on their payroll.

  • Replacing an employee is expensive. Replacing an exemplary or even competent employee is costly. Estimates for the cost of turnover vary depending on the source, but Forbes Opens a new window estimates that the cost of replacing an entry-level employee will be 50 percent of his or her salary. The replacement cost is even higher for mid-level positions (125 percent of the annual salary) and senior executive roles (at least 200 percent of the annual salary).

Turnover expenses add up, between lost productivity, impacts to company morale and culture, and the true cost of recruitment. While recruitment is an essential piece of this equation—the quickest route to employee turnover is hiring the wrong fit in the first place—focusing on retention strategies is a company’s best shot at avoiding these significant expenses.

  • Professionals know they may have to switch jobs to maximize income. For professionals looking to level up in salary, a common belief is that switching jobs is a faster path to a higher salary than waiting for annual or performance-based raises from their employers. In a job seeker’s market, this idea is one that most employers cannot afford to fight—hence the growing focus on retention.

How Employers Can Ramp Up Retention Efforts with Technology

The good news: employers are recognizing that investing in employee retention can save them money and headaches, and there are multiple forward-thinking strategies that employers can implement right now to drive retention. While some of those tactics are ones that HR experts have been encouraging for years (such as being less stingy with raises, getting creative with benefits packages, and emphasizing the creation of strong company culture), There are also new HR technologies that employers can use to move toward better retention.

One example is using periodic anonymous surveys to get honest feedback from employees about their workplace. What do they view as the biggest strengths and shortcomings of their workplace culture? Which benefits would they most like to see going forward? How do they feel about their current work-life balance? Getting answers to these questions from your employees is easy to do thanks to technology, and it can help inform your roadmap for boosting retention.

Once the time comes to start implementing new ideas or policies, turn to technology again. One thing that modern professionals want is more flexibility in where, when, and how they work. Offering remote work or work-from-home options to your team can help you to combat the many reasons associated with employee turnover, from the need to stay home with kids or pets to an aversion to commuting.

Learn More: The Importance of Employee Retention– The Key to a Successful BusinessOpens a new window

15 or 20 years ago, it wasn’t realistic for most professionals to do their jobs from home. That’s not the case anymore: VPNs, corporate social networks, project management systems, team communication platforms, and video chat and teleconference tools are just a few of the options that tech-savvy businesses are using today to function well—and boost retention—without their team members’ physical footprints in the office.

These examples represent a small sample of the HR technologies that have enabled businesses to be more flexible, agile, and open to their employees’ needs to support stronger retention. Other examples include platforms for producing employee awards and recognition, virtual training opportunities to expand your company’s professional development focus, and systems that help streamline or automate workflows to eliminate menial tasks.

No one piece of technology is the key to shifting your business’s focus toward thoughtful employee retention. By using these tools in concert and combining them with other efforts, such as expanding your employee benefits programs, you can reinvest in the terrific employees that you already have.

Learn More: Don’t Resist Irrationality, Embrace It for Talent RetentionOpens a new window

Michael Klazema
Michael Klazema

Chief Marketing Technologist, VODW

Michael Klazema is the Chief Marketing Technologist at VODW and the lead author/editor for backgroundchecks.com. He has a two-decade background in background checking, HR, employee screening, and technology innovation.   Michael has led technology selection and implementation initiatives with a focus on achieving great alignment with online customer experiences and organizational structures. Michael holds an MBA in International Management from Maastricht University and has worked in the US, UK, Austria, Norway, and The Netherlands. He enjoys the rich culinary histories of various old and new world countries, using the cookbooks he and his family collect as souvenirs from their international adventures
Take me to Community
Do you still have questions? Head over to the Spiceworks Community to find answers.