Jason Leverant serves as the President and Chief Operating Officer of the AtWork Group, an award-winning national staffing firm.
The Great Resignation in 2021 rocked the business world and left many employers struggling to find skilled workers. That year, 47.8 million people (subscription required) quit their jobs to pursue new opportunities, forcing business owners to reevaluate their hiring strategies. Workers being unhappy with low pay and a lack of career advancement led to the nation’s quit rate reaching a 20-year high in November 2021.
Eventually, a cooling labor market and a tightening economy by the end of 2023 helped stem the mass exodus. But although layoffs increased in 2024, finding reliable, skilled candidates is still challenging. The skills gap as Baby Boomers retire is hampering employers’ ability to find qualified candidates. Employee burnout and the transient nature of today’s workforce also make it difficult to retain workers. About 50% of the U.S. workforce is quiet-quitting, while a Monster survey revealed that 96% of workers were looking for a new job in 2023.
Business owners are responsible for improving workplace morale and creating an environment where employees thrive. Low-cost initiatives, such as giving workers Friday off in the summer, can have a big impact. But in my experience, both as a COO and from helping a variety of companies meet their staffing needs, it is not all about adding extra perks, improving benefits or emphasizing professional development. Many of your efforts can start during the hiring process.
Five Hiring Strategies To Improve Retention
Future-proofing your workforce takes time and energy, but it can also save you money in the long run. Here are five strategies you can implement to improve employee retention from the beginning:
1. Understand your future needs.
Anticipate future market trends and technological implementations to ensure you hire a forward-thinking candidate with the skills you may need over time. For example, many companies are testing the waters of AI. Having a new hire with skills in this area can help you take advantage as the technology continues to evolve.
2. Recruit for skills over experience.
Emphasizing skills in the job description can enable you to reach a wider range of candidates, helping foster employee diversity. Consider also giving potential candidates a skills test to measure their soft skills, such as problem-solving and communication.
3. Streamline your hiring process.
In many cases, top candidates are unwilling to endure a lengthy application and interview process. Nearly half of workers believe the job application process is “too long and complicated,” according to Indeed, and about a third of applicants said they would abandon an application if it had “clumsy application functionality” (33%) or grammatical errors (30%).
To prevent a qualified candidate from slipping through your fingers, consider how you can streamline your hiring process to be as user-friendly as possible. Most managers know within the first five minutes if a candidate is the right fit, so it might just take a slight adjustment to make a real impact on these processes.
4. Assess cultural fit.
Hiring a candidate who is a good cultural fit requires more than assessing their skills and experience. Look for candidates who share your company’s values, goals and workstyle, as they are more likely to stay engaged and have a positive impact on the rest of the team. According to a Gallup study, employees who feel connected to their organization’s culture tend to be more engaged at work and less likely to suffer from burnout.
5. Consider third-party recruitment.
Finding the right candidates can be challenging. What’s more, businesses can expect to pay between $2,000 and $20,000 to hire a new employee, not including salary and benefits. Working with a qualified professional recruiter can simplify hiring, cut costs and provide quality assurance. If you decide to work with a third-party staffing partner, look for one with a solid reputation for finding qualified candidates quickly, as well as the tools and expertise to handle any issues that may come up during a potential recruit’s trial period.
While offering professional development, mentoring and a robust benefits package are effective ways to improve retention in a tight labor market, I believe future-proofing your workforce starts during the hiring process. By implementing innovative hiring strategies and maximizing your resources, you can build a solid workplace culture and increase employee loyalty.
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