PROBLEM: New Hires Just Keep Quitting

By Julie Goh

Too often I have heard complaints about how new hires never last long, and that they are unable to cope with the demands of the job. Instead of finding fault with the new hires, why not incentivise the people who are tasked with recruitment to find better-quality candidates?

For example, if one of your main concerns is the high staff turnover rate of your retail staff, then you can apply this to the outlet recruitment team. Offer an incentive based on the “success rates” of new recruits. Success can be measured by:-

• Do not resign within x months (you can have different categories of incentives for this)
• Do not have any discipline issues during the probation period
• Successfully pass their probation period without having to extend
• An additional incentive can be given if candidates excelled in the first year of employment by becoming top sales or best staff

This will encourage your recruitment team to put more effort into ensuring quality hiring. It will also motivate them to continue communicating with the new hires to ensure they are fitting in well in their new work environment – in other words, practicing employee engagement.

What used to be a fixed salary job is now motivated by the extra incentives they can earn if they put in more effort in their job.

Isn’t this a win-win situation?