Published June 2023

Struggling with Recruitment & Turnover? Read this!

Over the past few years, the search for top talent has become a significant problem across all industries. As the Covid-19 lockdowns ended in late 2021, job vacancies surged across Australia highlighting crippling staff and skill shortages. The reopening of the borders and changes to visas were expected to offer a solution, but we are yet to see major changes from this. Fast forward several years businesses are still struggling to fill many of those same roles, with many workers thumbing their nose at job offers and instead opting to pursue new work-life balance aspirations.

To put this into context, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics found in June 2021 that 27% of Australian businesses were experiencing difficulty finding suitable workers. Fast forward to June 2023 and 100% of Edwards HR’s clients are still experiencing the same difficulties. As a result of this, a term, the “Great-Resignation”, was brought about to describe an employees deep dissatisfaction with previous employment situations. This dissatisfaction is thought to be caused by the ongoing global pandemic enabling workers to rethink their careers, work/life balance, long-term goals, and working conditions. All over the world, we are now seeing workers are ditching pre-covid conditions like long hours and burnout and pursuing better work-life balance. Employers are now facing a rocky road ahead, with companies needing to “sell” career development, top dollars and flexibility to attract workers as jobseekers are now looking for a more fulfilling work-life balance. This is a challenge across all industries. However, it’s important to rethink the status quo.

For employees, this is being seen as the “Great Job Boom”, with more jobs available than ever before.

1. How to Improve Your Recruitment Process

 As you rethink the status quo, it is important to remember that there is no silver bullet, or one size fits all approach. Following these tips and tricks will allow you to reassess and hopefully improve your recruitment, onboarding, retention, and benefits strategies.

• Pre-recruitment: Before starting the recruitment process, know the purpose of the role, and the types of skills and personal attributes needed in an ideal candidate. Then, clearly outline these points in the job ad and use them to devise interview questions that will enable you to determine each candidate’s suitability. This sounds simple, but you would be amazed how often this is overlooked and leads to bad hires.
• Hiring for Attitude: While talented employees may possess the ability to pick up new skills with ease, it doesn’t follow that they will always make the effort. Individuals possessing less natural talent, but who have the willingness to work hard and to a high standard, can acquire skills through their sheer effort and determinations. The difference between those two candidates is the attitude.
• Company Values: Remembering your company values, adhering to them, and discussing them in the interview is another way to ensure you are hiring the right candidate that align with the company’s values. For example, at Edwards HR, one of our values it that we ‘deliver on time, every time’, so we always ask candidates about this during our interviews.
• Headhunting: Gone are the days of putting an ad on Seek and being spoilt for choice with a large volume of high calibre candidates. Step in targeted headhunting – this is where the Edwards Hr team spends most of our time when we recruit for clients. In todays market, recruitment efforts must include time devoted to actively approaching suitable candidates who may not be actively applying for work, but will be open to the right opportunity if it presents itself.
• Where to Advertise: Be sure to advertise only on reputable platforms such as LinkedIn and Seek (depending on the role) as these will generate results that platforms such as Facebook and Gumtree will not. Advertising should not be your only strategy – the success of a recruitment campaign will be maximised by advertising and headhunting simultaneously.
• Explore Networks: Another great way to explore your existing network is to share vacancies within the team and encourage them to seek candidates through their networks. You could even consider a ‘Referral Program’ that offers an incentive to your employee if a referral is hired.
• Move Quickly: You’ll also need to act as quickly as you can through the recruitment process to secure new talent and potential. There are many jobs available in the market and candidates are often interviewing for more than one role simultaneously, so be sure to act on applications you are interested in pursuing.
• Pay Transparency: Talking about pay or listing this info on an ad was historically considered bad form – but we know that when pay is listed, it attracts more candidates and deters those who are outside of the budget (consider this one a time saver!). Consider greater visibility about wages and creating a new status quo around remuneration, also remembering it is now an entitlement for employees to talk about their pay if they want to.
• Working from Home: If you offer working from home in any form, be sure to include it in your advertising and headhunting efforts – after all ‘working from home’ is searched more in job ads than any title or location! You can read about this in our ‘Is WFH an Entitlement’ update here.
• Pay & Benefits: Considering and offering a competitive wage will also be of use when seeking top talent however, not everyone is motivated by money. So, it is worthwhile considering other benefits you could offer such as flexibility with hours, working from home, bonuses, health care benefits and structured career programs just to name a few. Candidates want to know what’s in it for them, so be sure to include these in your advertising and headhunting as a selling point for your organisation.
• Remember, you’re being interviewed too – The world has changed in the last few years and the recruitment process is now not only about how you interview the candidate but also finding out what the candidate is looking for in a job and whether you align with their needs, values, and goals. Use this as an opportunity to be yourself and talk about the role and the business honestly so there are no surprises once your new employee starts.
• Practical Tests: For some roles, it can be useful to ask the candidate to complete a practical task as part of the interview. For example, a Boilermaker could complete a welding test, or an Administration Officer could be asked to identify errors in a document or navigate a system. This can be very helpful in determining an individuals’ depth of experience and standard of work.
• Hiring for Potential

There are several groups of workers who can be overlooked when it comes to recruitment, but we encourage you to consider school leavers, graduates and marginalised workers.

• Graduates: Take a moment to consider everything you can gain by recruiting a graduate including:
• An affordable employee who’s excited about their first job;
• Eager to make a strong impression;
• Equipped with an up-to-date education;
• Ready to absorb whatever training you can offer; and
• Come with a real passion for the field they have studied.

These points considered, they get an opportunity to launch a career in the field of their choice and you get an opportunity to plan the future of your organisation by moulding a graduate in your company’s image, values and culture.

• Marginalised Workers: Marginalisation occurs when certain people, or, in a workplace setting, employees are treated as invisible, and their talents are overlooked, unwelcome or excluded. Examples of marginalised populations include groups excluded due to:
• Race;
• Sexual orientation;
• Age;
• Physical ability;
• Language;
• Immigration status.

It is important to conscientiously create opportunities for individuals from marginalised populations.

 Consider External Support: The team at Edwards HR are the heavy industry experts and recruit just about all blue- and white-collar roles, so give us a call to discuss how we can support your team. We only take on a small number of roles to ensure you vacancy gets the time it deserves to find your perfect candidate.

2. How to Retain Employees & Reduce Turnover

 Now that you’ve recruited someone, the fun doesn’t stop there! It is equally important to continuously seek ways to retain top talent and keep your team members happy and engaged. Here are our top tips:

• Solid Onboarding & Induction: You only have one opportunity to make a good first impression. You can do this by having a solid onboarding and induction process so that your employees are given all the right tools and information required for them to carry out their role and learn about the company culture from their very first week. Take a look at our Quick Guide: How to Nail the Onboarding Process for New Employees for more guidance.
• Ask the Team: Remember, not every employee is motivated by money and the flexibility to work from home. Sometimes the best insight about how to make your workplace a better place to work is by asking your team just that – you might be pleasantly surprised by some of the unexpected responses.
• Celebrate: Always make time to celebrate the wins and acknowledge both team and individual achievements.
• Consider Benefits & Flexibility: Not everyone is motivated by money so it is worthwhile considering other benefits you could offer such as flexibility with hours, working from home, bonus/incentive plans, additional paid leave, health care benefits, novated leases, staff discounts and structured career programs just to name a few. If you’re not sure where to start, take a look at our tip called ‘Ask the Team’ above to find out what’s important to your team before you splurge!
• Growth Opportunities: It is also beneficial to give your employees the chance to continue to grow in their roles by looking at training opportunities such as on the job training, cross-training, new licences and by promoting from within the company. This allows your employees to feel motivated and look towards the future at the company.
• Leadership Training: Consider investing in training for top-down leadership that teaches them to encourage employees and make them authentically feel there’s an urgency in the work they’re doing. In other words, an employee should be made to feel their work is important and their manager trusts them. That kind of training for managers should be executed consistently throughout an organisation, from top line managers down to front-line managers.
• Communication & Reviews: Making the effort to encourage employees and checking in regularly to see how they are going will give you an idea of employee satisfaction and their workload management. Alongside this, completing regular performance reviews, usually every 6 months or annually, will help your employees understand how they are travelling in their role and how they can potentially improve. Performance reviews are also a great way for your employees to feel encouraged to provide upwards feedback to their Supervisor or Manager, have their achievements acknowledged and address any concerns.
• Always Address Concerns: It is important that any concerns are addressed in an efficient and timely manner and communicated openly, honestly, and consistently. Remember, not everyone is intrinsically driven, so by asking the employee what would make the workplace better, will give you an opportunity to accommodate to their needs and ultimately, create a happier workplace.
• Consider External Support: The team at Edwards HR are the heavy industry experts, so give us a call to discuss how we can support your team. Whether you need documents drafted, a culture survey conducted, another project or boots on the ground, we’ll be able to offer a solution.

What’s Next?

Looking towards the future by assessing and refining your recruitment, onboarding, retention, and benefits strategies will allow you to remain competitive and gain long-term top talent.

Often, our clients engage us to support their recruitment needs simply because they don’t have the time to do it themselves – that is, enough time to proactively advertise, headhunt, speak with candidates, and move through the process quickly but also thoroughly.

Our unique and cost-effective model has achieved brilliant results for our clients over the last 12 months, and we are here to help when you need us. We are just a phone call away.