Whilst everything may be running smoothly in your business, there is the temptation to sit back and become complacent. However, whilst you are doing this your competitors could be on the prowl and preparing a better offer for your key employees! It’s a well-known fact that the cost of replacing a member of staff far exceeds keeping them. Once you have factored in recruitment costs, plus the training and development of a new member of staff, you may start asking yourself if you could have done more to keep that member of staff who has moved elsewhere. Attracting the best people to your business is a great start when recruiting, but you need to make sure you are keeping hold of them long-term to get the best value out of your employees. Here’s our 5 top tips to improve employee retention Offer a competitive salary Whilst selling on cost may not always be the best approach when looking for a new recruit, offering a competitive and fair salary is a vital part of the package on offer. Salaries should be benchmarked against competitors and the industry you work in. You should take into account regional variances; however, this should be aligned with industry averages not only for the salary itself, but the overall remuneration package (such as pension, employee benefits, holidays etc.) Regular salary reviews in line with hitting performance related targets can give employees something to aim for and give a sense of career progression without needing to look elsewhere. Build a culture of trust Employees need to be managed; however micro-management is not the way forward! You were trusting enough to offer your member of staff the job in the first place, so as long as you have set out a strategic development programme for them, with clear and achievable objectives, you should be able to trust them to perform to the best of their ability. Mistakes will naturally be made but allow your employees to learn from them and adapt this to future performance. Remember, trust is a two way thing, so developing a culture of trust throughout your organisation will not only aid communication, but also improve retention.  Recognise and reward Rewarding your staff doesn’t always have to be financial. Depending on the type of role, a bonus structure may not be appropriate for every employee, especially if they don’t have sales targets to meet, so recognising your employee’s achievements can be done in other ways. You could think about internal awards, retail vouchers, health benefits or additional days holidays. After all, we all like to be thanked for our hard work! Manage the relationship One of the key reasons why employees leave their jobs is a breakdown in relationship with their manager. Promoting from within is a great way to retain key members of staff, however if they are promoted into a management position make sure they are put onto relevant training and development programmes to ensure their management skills are fine-tuned alongside the culture and long-term plans of the business. Training doesn’t always have to be formal; it could come in the form of mentoring or on the job coaching – which is good practice for staff development at any level. Be flexible Flexibility at work doesn’t necessarily have to mean offering flexi-time to your employees. As we have seen in recent months, home working is becoming more of a necessity as opposed to a luxury for many employees now. Giving your employees the option to work from home, or work more flexible hours can improve loyalty. It also shines a positive light on the employer, showing you to be caring and considerate of the wider needs of your employees.  Build your business around your employees Employers who strategically align their overall package to the needs of their employees, are more likely to reap the rewards of long-term staff attrition. Thinking about what’s important to your employees is just as important as what’s important for your business, as without your employees there is no business! At Multitask Personnel, we feel employee retention is just as important as recruiting the right person for the job in the first place. In order to get the best value out of your recruitment, having long-term employee retention plans in place are essential. If you need our advice, we’re only happy to help. Contact us on 0845 478 5009 or enquiries@multitaskpersonnel.co.uk and we’ll be happy to discuss how our employee retention tips can help future-proof your business.

Multitask Personnel, the Rotherham based specialist recruitment agency, has further expanding it’s growing team with the addition of Michelle Laing as the firms new Operations Support Manager. The role has been created to identify areas for improvement in both the team and business efficiency – with a particular focus on the customer journey, service levels, HR, and staff training and development needs. Reporting into the Managing Director, Claire Lee, the new role has been designed to offer day to day support across the entire business. Michelle Laing, the new Operations Support Manager at Multitask Personnel Claire Lee comments: “As Multitask Personnel continues to grow, it’s essential we have the right people in place to not only service our customers but also to make sure the business is operating efficiently and progressing behind the scenes. “Bringing Michelle in, who worked alongside me some 12 years ago when we were looking after London and Essex building and environmental services contracts, means we can break things down on a project by project basis to look at areas where we can improve. “Michelle will be tasked with developing plans on how to utilise our recruitment software better, and as she gets to know the business, our team and customers she will then be able to fall in line with the longer term plans of getting more involved in the general running of the business.” Michelle, who started in recruitment running a Construction desk, worked in account management, and then moved to Dubai where she worked in both agency and internal recruitment, has a wealth of experience within recruitment, talent attraction and HR. Michelle Laing comments: “It’s an absolute pleasure to link up with Claire again and join the ever growing team at Multitask Personnel. Having developed a successful career with a leading global recruiter, and then as an in-house recruiter for a leading real estate developer, I’m looking forward to bringing this knowledge of processes into Multitask. “We’ve just celebrated our 10th anniversary, which highlights how far the business has come in this space of time, but we now need to focus on the next 10 years and push to the next stage of development. We’re on the cusp of change; Claire has built up a great business and a fantastic brand, and now is the time to build on this and take it to the next level.”     Multitask Personnel is currently running two special offers to new customers throughout October 2020 as part of their 10th anniversary celebrations. For further information please contact the team on 0845 478 5009 or enquiries@multitaskpersonnel.co.uk 

Multitask Personnel, the Rotherham based specialist recruitment partner, are continuing their growth phase with an internal promotion and a new recruit, as the business comes out of the lockdown period in a stronger position than ever. As the recruitment market starts to show signs of recovery, the demand for temporary, contract and permanent positions has increased as many of the sectors Multitask operate in are opening up for business once again. During the early stages of the lockdown period, Managing Director, Claire Lee used the time to review the wider activities of the business, re-structuring the roles of existing staff to ensure they were focused on the right areas to allow for future business growth, with staff split into teams to focus primarily on client management and business development. Claire Lee comments: “Our new structure seems to have worked really well and played to the strengths of the individuals in the team. As we start to get even busier, we clearly need to keep developing this new structure and resource, not only to ensure it continues, but also to make sure no-one in the team is put under too much pressure. “After careful thought and new forecasts, it was clear the best course of action would be to promote from within, and to recruit new faces into the team. So, we’re delighted to announce that from 1st September 2020, Beth Childs has accepted a promotion into a Senior Recruiter role in our technical department. Beth will be responsible for managing client relationships, increasing the candidate database and ensuring the technical team hit the annual forecast. “In addition to Beth’s promotion, we have also set on Shauna Towey, technical Recruiter to work alongside Beth and the Technical team. Shauna brings over two years of experience in trade recruitment and will be a vital addition to the team. We would like to wish both team members every success with their new roles at Multitask Personnel.” Claire Lee (left), MD of Multitask Personnel, with Beth Childs, Senior Technical Recruiter Beth Childs, new Senior Technical Recruiter at Multitask Personnel adds: “I’m delighted to progress into a senior role and be given the chance to develop the Technical recruitment division along with Shauna. I have been with Multitask since 2016, starting out in an administrator role before working my way up as a recruitment consultant, so it’s a fantastic feeling to be given a division of my own to run. “I’m so grateful to Claire and the team for their support and advice over the past few years that have enabled me to progress within the business.” Shauna Towey (left) and Beth Childs Shauna Towey, Technical Recruiter at Multitask Personnel comments on her appointment: “I am excited and grateful to be given the opportunity to work alongside Beth, growing the Technical division, after a busy couple of weeks I feel like I have settled nicely into the team and am excited to see what the future brings at Multitask.” Claire Lee concludes: “We’re building a fantastic team at Multitask, ensuring we have a good spread of people across all our departments. I honestly thought this year would be the toughest we ever faced due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but with such a fantastic, committed team, and a great client bank, it could end up being the best ever, with us in a much stronger position in the market.” The new appointments coincide with Multitask celebrating 10 years in business in September 2020. Multitask Personnel’s Technical division helps place candidates into contract and permanent roles throughout the UK across both M&E and Building trades. Beth and the Technical team can be contacted on 0845 478 5009 or enquiries@multitaskpersonnel.co.uk.