Employee turnover is inevitable, but there are some strategic, proactive actions you can take to attract and retain top technical talent, even in today’s job market.
Let’s first consider your approach to recruitment and hiring. Are you waiting until you have a position to fill? Unsurprisingly, that approach puts you behind other companies in today’s job market and will make it more difficult to hire great people with high potential. If you’re not sure where to start, read on.
Always Be Recruiting
High operational maturity level (OML) companies have a deep and well-defined tech stack and because of this, their service difficulty is typically lower than low OML companies’ staff. What does this mean? High OMLs can staff with more lower cost technicians (Level 1), rather than hiring more costly Level 3 and 4 technical roles. The lower complexity allows for a better client experience at a lower cost to you because there are more Level 1 and 2 technicians and fewer Level 3 and 4 technicians.
In Service Leadership Vice President Peter Kujawa’s keynote at IT Nation Evolve in Phoenix, AZ in February, he urged manage service providers (MSPs) to constantly be recruiting and hiring Level 1 technicians. In preparing for turnover, Kujawa said MSPs should mentally prepare for 20-30% of service operation employees to leave this year.
For example, Kujawa shared, “In a $4 million MSP, that's four-to-six- techs per year, so roughly one every two months. You have to be recruiting constantly. You can't wait for a tech to put in a notice and then put an ad out on Indeed and hope that you're going to be able to fulfill and continue to meet your client needs… Always be on the lookout. Even if you don't need to hire one today, mathematically you will in the next month or two."
Be Intentional with Onboarding
Once you’ve recruited your next employee, recognize onboarding begins once a candidate has accepted your offer.
“They may get a counter offer in today’s market. You want them to think about being on your team, not their old team. Find out when they’re giving notice and send a note to let to let them know you know that’s tough and you’re thinking of them. Find occasions to be in touch with the candidate and make them feel welcome and included.” – Denise Miller, Senior Human Resources Consultant with PathShare® HR Services.
Many onboarding processes focus on getting the new employee set up as quickly as possible rather than investing time in getting the employee acquainted with their role, the company, and its culture. An intentional and structured onboarding process that directly serves new hires increases employee retention. In turn, you’ll spend less time and money hiring.
Regularly Conduct Stay Interviews
Conducting semi-annual stay interviews provide purposeful conversations to find out what is important to the employee and how your organization can engage and motivate them. This is important to build trust, increase communication and show your employees you care about them and their future. Furthermore, stay interviews are a great tool to help alleviate some of the attrition Kujawa referenced MSPs must plan for annually. To implement stay interviews for your company and reduce turnover at your company, register for a free, virtual event, presented by Denise Miller, Senior Human Resources Consultant with PathShare® HR Services.
PathShare ® HR Services: Retaining Top Talent for Future Success: Stay Interviews Session
Has this ever happened to you? You see potential in an employee, they’re a great culture fit and you believe they’ll be part of your long-term strategy. Then they accept a position somewhere else. Prevent this situation by learning about an effective retention method: Stay Interviews.
Previously recorded on March 8, 2022 from 12:00PM-12:30PM CST. Request a recording below.
About GreatAmerica Financial Services
GreatAmerica is the largest independent, family-owned national commercial equipment finance company in the U.S. with over $2.4 billion in assets and life-to-date finance originations of $13.5 Billion. GreatAmerica was established in Cedar Rapids, Iowa in 1992 and today is organized into six divisions. It has a staff of over 600 employees with offices in Iowa, Georgia, Minnesota, and Illinois. In addition to financing, GreatAmerica offers innovative non-financial services to help our customers grow. GreatAmerica is committed to the office equipment industry and is the leader in single invoice solutions (MPS, Managed IT, and other specialized billing options). GreatAmerica also offers innovative non-financial services to help dealers evolve their businesses. www.greatamerica.com
Author: Lori Berry, Director, Strategic Technology, GreatAmerica Financial Services
