Recruitment And Retention: How To Find The Best And Keep Them

The results are striking: on average, the 100 best workplaces in Europe get almost nine job applications a year per staff member and have a voluntary employee turnover of just 7.9 per cent, allowing companies to save money on hiring and training. But while such statistics may be the envy of other companies, defining what exactly it is about a great workplace that contributes to recruitment and retention is not easy.

A big element, in the eyes of employees, is clearly related to the ability to achieve a good work-life balance. Offering a flexible work schedule also helps companies when it comes to recruitment. Some 73 per cent of people consider the ability to work flexibly a deciding factor when choosing a new job.

However, while many companies are recognising and acting on the demand for less rigid work schedules, there is also a growing desire on the part of many job candidates and employees – particularly when it comes to younger workers – to work for companies that are socially and environmentally responsible.

Some companies clearly recognise the power of philanthropic, environmental or community programmes in engaging employees. But while some are clearly leaders in this area, Lesley Uren, chief executive of Jackson Samuel, the UK-based talent management firm, believes others have yet to harness the power of corporate responsibility. “Organisations have largely come to terms with work-life balance,” she says. “But I don’t think they’ve made so much progress on the corporate responsibility side in terms of making it part of their processes and using it as a way to engage people.”

Part of the challenge is that corporate responsibility is not something companies can simply tack on to their activities. And with access to information about companies’ social and environmental performance freely available on the internet, “greenwashing” and false claims can be easily detected.

“This generation can spot a fraud a mile off,” says Ms Uren. “For an organisation to speak about a corporate responsibility agenda and not demonstrate what they’re doing is like putting on a coat that doesn’t belong to them. So organisations need to make it meaningful to the work they’re doing.”

The full article was originally published by The Financial Times on May 28, 2008.