In my experience as a recruiter, the new year is often a time when I see candidates beginning new opportunities, considering new opportunities and many businesses looking to fill gaps in their team to achieve goals and ambitions.
Whilst this fresh perspective from both sides is an exciting one, I’ve also witnessed situations where a permanent hire begins a new role, and within weeks, they decide the new role isn’t quite for them and their employer back to find a replacement, with very little notice.
One of the main reasons employers fall into this trap based on what I’ve seen is a lack of transparency. This is likely down to not being able to clearly establish the specifics of the role in terms of responsibilities and requirements, and also not matching the employees’ needs.
Candidates NEED to be onboarded with a clearly laid out brief of what is expected of them.
What can you do as a hiring manager to prevent this from happening?
The first thing I’d say is you must include everything in your prior conversations with your potential hire. And yes, this includes the ‘ugly’. Failing to do this will set your potential hire up with an unrealistic idea of either their workload, expectations as well as potential benefits.
Some of the most common reasons candidates leave a role comes down to a lack of communication with senior management; and sudden changes to structure and their position. Keep on top of the changes in your business: for instance, will a colleague in their department be leaving soon after they arrive? Let them know as it may result in them having to take on extra work whilst a replacement is found. Will there be a change in their line manager? Again, keep them informed so they are ready for this.
As I often point out to candidates, changes in businesses will happen; and adjusting to that change will be necessary. But your long term success will come down to how you handle that change.
Just like interview prep, research is a huge pillar for avoiding any potholes in the road. Ask questions about potential change, the future of the role, the realistic view of your 9-5, the main focus areas and secondary focus areas, and see how the answers sit with you.
If you’re looking for a new position that suits your needs or you find yourself seeking an urgent hire to fill a role, we can help you.
By Owen Peterson, Recruitment Consultant
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