Attract, engage, retain: Develop strong capable teams

Improving staff retention strategies

In our last post we looked at connecting Brand, Strategy and People, we are now continuing this theme by looking at the Brand-Strategy-People approach and the impact that connecting Brand, Strategy and People has when it comes to improving staff retention.

We all know the impact of an unstable team on the culture and success of any business. We talk to lots of business owners who recount stories of staff coming and going and the negative impact it has on business growth.

Brand as a driver for Attracting and Engaging

When clients buy into your Brand, so do the people you want in your business. We spend time looking at Value Propositions from the client’s perspective, without defining the value we add to existing and future employees.

What does this “Employer Branding” mean to you? Is it just about how you advertise your vacancies? If your cultural environment doesn’t match the way you describe it during the attraction element of the recruitment process, then retaining new people will become a challenge.

The relationship between employer and employee has changed over the last 30 years and it is generally accepted that people of all ages are more receptive to a mentoring style of leadership. Do the behaviours of you and your senior Managers need to adapt to accommodate the Employer Brand you want for your business?

Employer Branding encompasses a whole host of aspects of how you do business; your culture, values, leadership, personal development and talent development as much as your products or services.

Connecting Brand, Strategy and People.

Developing a culture of engagement requires commitment, consistency and above all great leadership. By involving existing team members in defining team structure as you grow, asking them for input on how they see their role changing as new people join and even asking them to participate in to the interview or on-boarding process, will serve to enhance their engagement with the Employer Branding as well as increasing their commitment to the new employees you bring in to the business

As we move further into the 21st century, organisations are becoming more entrepreneurial in their spirit, and staff are often being tasked with more rounded tasks outside their traditional job role. It’s increasingly important that the brand, strategy and people are aligned; not only in terms of the “Public” face of your company, when attracting new clients, but also when growing a team that are engaged and aligned with the brand you want to project.

In our next post we will consider what, according to research, presents one of the biggest risks to engaging and retaining the very best people and how businesses can best support a new recruit during the first 3 months of their new career.