Employers move to retain redundancy ‘survivors’

Half of the UK’s employers report that they have experienced difficulties over the past year in holding on to the 'survivors' of redundancies, re-organisations and mergers and acquisitions.

This was one of the key findings from the Annual Recruitment and Retention Survey launched at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development’s Annual Recruitment Conference on Tuesday.

The findings showed that organisations are taking a number of steps to hold on to valued staff as they weather the current downturn. These include further investment in training and development; promoting their image as good employers; increased pay; and offering more flexible working hours.

CIPD Adviser, Development and Resourcing, Imogen Daniels, added: “Smart employers are learning lessons from the last recession and are taking steps to prevent the haemorrhaging of valuable people from their organisations. Rather than letting people leave because they are de-motivated, they are looking at more flexible ways of coping with the problem by offering employees more options as well as increased pay.”

Daniels said she believed that recruitment and retention go hand in hand: “The changes made by the survey respondents are positive ones both for current employees and potential candidates as they show that employers are recognising that retention initiatives as well as holding on to employees, make the workplace attractive to potential new recruits.”

Offering employees more scope for development in terms of promotion or sideways moves are also favoured options as retention tools with over 30% of employers making efforts to provide extra opportunities.

Also the provision of family friendly benefits beyond the legal minimum is on the increase, though this offering varies considerably across the sectors. Nearly 60% of public sector employers have taken this step while only 27% have done so in the manufacturing sector.

Daniels added: “The private sector could learn a few lessons from the public sector in its ability to think more creatively about what its employees want. It is reassuring though to see that retention initiatives are increasing across the board. The private sector still has some way to go.”

The CIPD Annual Recruitment Conference took place on May 21, Novotel London West.

(SP)