How Outplacement Companies Can Sole Your Retention Problem
Are you responsible for hiring employees for a large or medium sized business? This work task can sometimes be overwhelming and difficult. You may find that it is not only difficult to find qualified employees, but that you run out of places to find employee candidates. You may feel the pressure as hiring someone that does not fit with the position at hand can be both a waste of time and money, for everyone involved. Outplacement companies exist for this reason. They can provide businesses with many benefits, many of which business owners are not even aware of.
Greater pool of candidates
Outplacement companies tend to have access to a greater pool of candidates. They have access to multiple job search sites, including a database of employees who are looking for work. Some of these candidates may even be anonymous candidates, meaning they are already working in a similar setting, but are interested in leaving for the right job. With 57% of organizations viewing employee retention as a problem, it is extremely important to select the best candidates.
Make job expectations clearer
The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that the average cost of a bad hiring decision can equal 30% of the first year’s potential earnings. Employees who accept positions, but are unaware of their job expectations, are more likely to leave when a better position comes along. Employees in today’s working world want to know what is expected of them, including time and goal expectations.
The human resources department plays a large part in employee expectations. Human resources not only handle disputes or communication problems between employees, but also deal with job dissatisfaction. HR consultants may be overwhelmed with current work tasks and not have sufficient time to provide clear job expectations to all potential employee candidates. An executive placement agency, however, can ensure that these responsibilities are communicated to each and every possible employee.
Handle hiring process from beginning to end
The hiring process can be a lengthy and time consuming task. This is especially true if you have many possible employee candidates. Reviewing even one resume can take up valuable time. In addition to resume monitoring and evaluations, hiring professionals must also contact and set up interviews with potential employees. They must develop relevant job interview questions and tasks. Depending on the position, second, and even third interviews may also need to be scheduled.
The work does not stop once a candidate is selected. The candidate must be brought in for job expectations meetings and new hire paperwork must be completed in a timely manner. The new candidate may have to be set up with benefits paperwork. They may also need to be trained on the new position. All of these tasks can take away from other important tasks of the business, making it a valuable decision to hire an executive search firm for these new hire tasks.
Job role improvements
Approximately 35% of CEOs of small and midsize businesses surveyed by Vistage said that staffing is the most significant business issue they currently face, cited twice as frequently as any other issue. One of the biggest difficulties is with employee retention. Without effective human resource professionals or outplacement companies, employees may come and go regularly. The CEO may never understand why it cannot hold onto its valuable employees.
An outplacement company, however, acts as human resources and not only conducts entrance interviews, but also exit interviews. Exit interviews are one of the most commonly overlooked hiring tasks. They provide valuable feedback to the hiring professionals and the CEO or owner of the company. They can learn from why dissatisfied employees choose to leave, and attempt to improve new employees’ job satisfaction.
Employee retention is one of the biggest problems that businesses in today’s world face. Businesses are doing better, and this gives employees more options. Constant employee retention can be expensive and inconvenient. When a business chooses to use outplacement companies for their hiring and staffing needs, they are likely to find that employees stay longer, are more satisfied, and are better aware of their job expectations.