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Fresh hires lack commitment to their firms and more quit within the first six months, recruiter finds.
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Most job recruits remain open to better offers after signing
26 September 2022
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Two-thirds of staff who accept a job remain open to a better offer while rising numbers of recruits quit within a few months, according to recruitment firm Robert Half.
A signed contract gave little certainty that a candidate would actually join while accelerated hiring and hybrid working meant new hires lacked an emotional connection with their employer, the Robert Half study found.
Director at Robert Half Australia, Nicole Gorton, said employers needed to address their onboarding practices to ensure candidates who accepted job offers committed to the role.
“With so much choice in the job market leading to competing job offers and counter-offers for candidates, the most in-demand employees are at a higher risk of leaving a new role within six months — or even reneging on an offer before they have started,” said Ms Gorton.
“Securing top talent doesn’t stop when they sign the contract.
“When the candidate joins the company, providing a clear roadmap of responsibilities, conducting regular check-ins, offering mentoring, and organising team building activities are all examples of successful onboarding tactics in the current environment.”
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The recruiter’s study found that 66 per cent of recruits remained open to a better offer while 61 per cent of employers experienced new hires leaving within one month and 54 per cent within six months.
One possible cause for the increase in employees leaving within their probation period was that more than half of employers surveyed said they were speeding up the hiring process in a bid to secure talent.
This could come at the cost of building an emotional rapport with the candidate, making it easier for them to take up another offer even after accepting a position.
The lack of rapport and the move to hybrid working made it even more difficult for new hires to adjust and Robert Half said to address this firms should bring employees into social settings and keep in regular contact.
“The current candidate market has coincided with the shift to flexible working which has made it more challenging for new recruits to feel part of a team or become engaged in company culture,” said Ms Gorton.
“Employers that don’t offer an exceptional onboarding process from the job offer to probation period are at great risk of losing new employees to other opportunities before they even settle in the new role.
“While not new, many companies today still allow there to be a communication gap between the moment the contract is signed and the new employee’s first day.
“Regular email updates, post-interview check-ins and offering more details about the role, company and induction plan could all help to build an emotional connection and reduce the risk of candidates backing out of a job offer in favour of a competing opportunity.”
The survey was a part of a study developed by Robert Half that involved 300 hiring managers, including 100 CFOs and 100 CIOs from companies across Australia.
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