Recruiting for potential turnover is a time and money suck in the defense contracting business. It can also hurt your reputation if you have employees constantly leaving your company with negative feelings and voicing those concerns to the small, close-knit cleared community.
Employee retention is a crucial aspect of any successful business, as it not only saves time and money on recruiting and training new talent but also helps maintain a positive and productive work environment. Here are ten tips to help retain employees:
- Offer competitive compensation and benefits packages that are in line with industry standards.
- Provide opportunities for career growth and development through training and mentorship programs.
- Foster a positive work environment that values open communication, collaboration, and teamwork.
- Encourage work-life balance by offering flexible schedules, remote work options, or paid time off.
- Recognize and reward employees for their hard work and achievements through bonuses, promotions, or public acknowledgment.
- Create a supportive workplace culture that prioritizes employee well-being, health, and safety.
- Offer opportunities for social interaction and team building activities to help build relationships and foster a sense of community among employees.
- Ensure that employees have the necessary resources and tools to perform their job duties effectively.
- Listen to employee feedback and suggestions for improvement and take action to address their concerns and needs.
- Finally – and likely most importantly – ensure that managers and leaders are approachable, supportive, and responsive to employee needs and concerns.
Is retention a recruiting metric?
If retention is the new recruiting, does that make retention a recruiting metric your sourcing team should be responsible for? Tom Weinert of Mount Indie Staffing says no, and this is where it is key to create a strong definition between what recruiting and hiring actually mean at your company.
“Focusing any hiring goal or improvement only on the recruiting team is a losing battle,” he says.
While retention numbers can showcase inconsistencies in your workplace culture, schedules, team dynamics, and pay, for example, retention flaws can also be created if the employee experience – starting with the recruitment process – is negative. Weinert says, “Retention is a hiring metric for sure, but really should live in operations. We have all heard the old adage ‘people leave managers, not companies’…in government contracting specifically, it is so critical to look at talent operations as a wholistic approach that includes operations, HR, recruiting and culture.”
So no, retention is not a solely a recruiting metric. People and companies are a bit more complicated than that.
All of the tips commonly offered for aiding retention include a common theme: connection. Connecting to your employees and helping them feel a part of their mission, especially if they are supporting your organization from the customer site in a SCIF, is absolutely essential if you want to retain them. If their primary connection is to a location or agency, they are prime for poaching – and if they have a clearance, you know they’re always being recruited.
By implementing these tactics, businesses can create a more positive, engaging, and productive work environment that encourages employee retention and satisfaction. And allow you to focus your recruiting efforts on new work and not staffing for turnover.
THE CLEARED RECRUITING CHRONICLES: YOUR WEEKLY DoD RECRUITING TIPS TO OUT COMPETE THE NEXT NATIONAL SECURITY STAFFER.
