How to engage, attract & retain employees

“Are they engaged?” Without context, that question can be interpreted in many, very different ways. In a marketing environment you might be talking about the intended audience of your latest campaign, trying to determine how well you’re speaking to them and how likely they are to buy; in a social setting, you’re more likely to be talking about a couple going through that very special moment in their relationship. In our world of HR, the meaning lies somewhere in the middle – it’s not quite as detached as how a person responds to promotional materials, and it’s also not nearly as romantic as a life partner getting down on one knee.  But it is about how your people respond to communication and the relationship – albeit professional – you have with them.

The average attrition rate of employees across Australia, the US and the UK is 15% - with Australia at the lowest end of the scale, at 14% - that means two things to me. Firstly, 10% of employees in every organisation are not adding any value, they shouldn’t be there and they should be identified and either heavily performance managed or let go. Secondly, the other 5% of the 15% that are on their way out are great at what they do, they are just disengaged with the organisation and, as a result, prime targets for the opposition. They need to be invested in and rewarded for the work they do, otherwise they will leave.

Make engagement more than an afterthought

At the latest VHA conference in Melbourne, I opened a discussion with some great speakers about the issue of employee engagement. One of the panellists, Lyn Gunnell, ‎National General Manager at Mercury Executive Recruitment, made the critical opening point that engagement mustn’t be seen as something to be addressed once a candidate is in the role – it must start from the moment a job advert is placed, and really sell the brand – back to my marketing point – to the prospective employee.