Seeking out and bringing talented employees onboard is not an easy task, it takes effort, time and money. Being responsible for a flow of fresh talent in a company with high turnover rate is an extremely challenging task. Here are 8 tips that helped me succeed with my recruitment project when hiring for a company with a low staff retention rate.


1. Be honest with the candidate.


Most job seekers would appreciate knowing the reasons for the position to be open. Tell them what made your previous employee leave and why you think this candidate will stick around. Mention the turnover and ask them how they feel about it.


2. Don't make false promises.


Many of HR and recruitment professionals I've met are guilty of this. Being quite excited about the new talent, they tend to exaggerate some facts about the company in an effort to make the candidates as excited as they are. A recent example I've witnessed myself was a recruiter telling a candidate that the company had "GENEROUS paid time off" and an "EXCELLENT work-life balance", when in reality they offered just 2 weeks of vacation per year, and practically non-existent work-life balance when employees could get called in to work in the middle of the night. Initially the candidate got excited, but it changed as soon as they found out the truth.


3. Listen to the candidate.


Find out what they are looking for and what's important to them. If they name something that your company cannot provide, maybe it's best for both of you to keep looking, no matter how good or how qualified this job applicant is.


4. Be honest with yourself about your turnover rates.


Admit that you have high turnover, analyze staffing trends and find a reason why you are losing so many people. In many cases recruiters like to blame the industry, economy or geographical factors, and in many cases those factors have some influence on the turnover rate, but there's also a lot that you can do to improve staff retention.


5. Could there be your hiring mistakes?


Sometimes recruiters don't have a good understanding of the current hiring need, and while they still hire talented and qualified employees, they are missing out on certain personal characteristics that an employee needs to possess to be successful in this particular environment. Talk to the staff, talk to managers, find out what is it that works best for them and the company.


6. Is it part of the workplace culture?


Don't let your company become a place where people just wait until a better opportunity comes around. Even minor changes to a workplace culture could bring high staff retention results. You don't have to spend a lot of time or money implementing a change, 10% of the efforts bring 90% of the results, you just need to be able to identify the need for a change. Examples of what will make your staff happier are scheduling policy adjustment, better recognition, staff development or overall better company management.


7. Learn from your mistakes and successes.


Look at the people that you have hired before, find out what made them stay or leave the company. Refer to your interviewing notes and identify what was it that you saw in the candidate. Were you right or wrong? Mistakes happen to all of us, but only the best of us can admit mistakes and learn from them.


8. Utilize low-cost sourcing options.


Find ways to minimize recruitment costs. Consider DandyProject.com as a source of applicants for your staffing project. With Dandy Project you will receive same applicants' quality as with Career Builder, but you wouldn't have pay nearly as much.


Don't give up.


High turnover could be managed effectively even in most challenging industries and geographic areas. A good recruiter should always look back, analyze and find solutions for improving staff retention and decreasing turnover as part of their day-to-day duties. Turnover could be addressed in many different ways, but it should never be ignored or blamed on circumstances beyond company control.