Retaining employees during a talent migration war

Laurence McLean explains how business owners can safeguard their enterprises when faced with loss of talent, encourage team retention, and better recruit in a talent shortage.

With costs of living rising, coupled with attractive salary packages being offered in Australia, it’s no surprise that we’re seeing a significant shift in Kiwi workers moving across the ditch.

For large corporations, the impact of this on business operations may not be immediately felt. However, for small businesses, this can fundamentally change the business in a matter of weeks.

Despite brain drain increasing, there are ways for SMEs to safeguard their businesses when faced with loss of talent, encourage team retention, and better recruit in a talent shortage.

Safeguard against major operational challenges

It’s guaranteed that as a business owner, you will lose some of your great talent. However, there are ways to insure yourself against any significant impact or gaps in your business as a result of this.

Operationally, brain drain can impact your business in many ways. It can create gaps in team resources, present an inability to meet customer demand, result in breakdown of team culture or even a loss of revenue.

To minimise some of this impact, you can ensure:

• You are prepared with clear resignation policies and notice periods well-planned for in employment agreements.
• You have plans to communicate with suppliers or customers if you run into demand issues and have surge capacity plans in place.
• There is a Plan B on how to plug initial gaps that can be filled quickly with casual and fixed-term employees during peak demand periods, particularly with trade, retail, and hospitality businesses.
• In some cases, AI can be used to speed up certain admin tasks, however, its functionality is limited so human intervention is always needed for accuracy and context.

How can employers increase workplace appeal to retain talent?

One of the most powerful things you can do as an employer is integrate your employees into the business and make them feel that they are valued and a crucial part of the team.

This involvement can vary, depending on their position within the company, and the nature of your business and how much transparency or involvement is viable.

This could be anything from offering more chances to input into the direction of the business, including employees in developing the company vision, or even offering profit share schemes. This makes for successful relationships, often resulting in them staying for longer through both thick and thin.

It’s a simple approach but it can be helpful – be communicative. This can be transparency with sharing challenges, as well as good results and wins. Increased transparency can also make career progression opportunities more visible, helping employees identify areas of professional development that they didn’t know was possible.

While you may not be able to offer other financial perks, there’s merit in creating a sense of community. Things such as early finishes, flexible working arrangements, and celebrating small wins as a team can create a tightknit, thriving team. 

We’ve got one of the best lifestyles as a nation so show employees how to promote best practice work/life balance to make the most of it!

Navigating recruitment in a talent shortage 

There have been recruitment challenges in New Zealand for the past year or so, particularly since the borders opened back up. This has resulted in high employment, and an increase in perks and packages being offered to candidates, which has priced some smaller employers out of the market. Today’s expectations from employees have superseded previous industry standards, making recruitment harder than ever.

While it’s a challenging recruitment landscape, here are some tips to maximise your success in retaining your employees:

• Have clear expectations of which staff you need and how vital they will be to the business. Recruitment comes with high costs to bring someone on board, so be clear about how this will contribute to the long-term success of your business.
• Approach recruitment with less of a trial-and-error mentality and be sure of the investment you’re making and its potential impact.
• Be strict with employment and reference checks to be confident that they have the hard and soft skills needed to meet the position needs.
• Ensure job descriptions are transparent and accurate, demonstrating what is expected of the candidate.
• Confirm medical capabilities. It’s important that employers ask about fitness for work but it’s often overlooked particularly in office-based jobs, but it can have a detrimental impact on both your business and the employee if you are not able to provide the support they need.
• Fortunately, migrant workers are now able to return to work in New Zealand, offering a possible solution to mitigate the loss of other employees. Consider how to best recruit migrant workers into open roles and understand the level of compliance needed to support them.

Laurence McLean is Associate Director New Zealand Operations for employment relations advisors Employsure. For more information, visit www.employsure.co.nz