Q&A: Holding on to The Talent You Need

Following on from HR World’s September webinar on retention we received some questions for the panel to address and take the discussion further.

On the panel were Stephanie Buck, Founder and Managing Director webinar sponsor Eclipze Consultancy and Laura Bunn, HR Director Roadchef . Both participants have extensive experience and strong views on looking after the workforce and here Laura gives her answers to some of our webinar viewer’s questions:

Q: Are counter-offers ever a good way to retain talent, or does this just mark the start of a bidding war for one employee?

Laura Bunn: I am personally not a fan unless you have carried out the market research to suggest that the current pay rate is below that of the wider market. I think once this becomes a cultural way to address resignations then you get a lot more people suggesting they have been counter-offered which makes a mockery of your pay and reward system.

Q: What do you advise for a small company that is getting high workload as a reason why employees are leaving?

Laura Bunn: Understand if there is merit in what is being said. Carry out an exercise to understand daily workloads and whether you practically deem them to be manageable. Discuss this in small employee groups – are more people picking up more work because others aren’t doing their fair share? Seek to understand and if ultimately you believe it to be true you may need to consider resource requirements.