As a seasoned recruiter with over 15 years of experience, I strongly believe that adding value, and sharing my thoughts with clients is an essential aspect of the service that I provide. At a time when I see organisations react to resignations by counter-offering their leaver, I see that promises of more money, greater responsibility and promotions sometimes result in the person staying. 

However, it's often the case that the ‘horse has bolted’ or worse, the counter-offer is a sticking plaster that masks their desire to move for a very short period of time. The manager implements changes with a view of accommodating the promise of career progression etc, and the individual chooses to leave within 6 months regardless.

The CIPD suggests that ‘The value of annual reviews has increasingly been challenged in recent years in favour of more regular conversations’.

Never has the activity in the recruitment market reflected the need for managers to have open and regular dialog with their finance staff. Using this as a way of retaining your team, planning for potential changes and avoiding the ‘surprise resignations’ is the main weapon in your arsenal as an effective leader and manager.

So I pose the question - When was the last time that you sat down for an informal ‘How are things?’ Chat with your team? It may be that they chose not to share their thoughts on leaving, however, it builds the strong bond that means that they are more likely to discuss their ambitions (financial and from a career perspective) and you can at the very least, plan for every eventuality.

So the message is clear - The macro-economic environment is leading to a large percentage of the working population to re-evaluate their role and earning potential. It may be that you are not in a position to ‘throw money at the problem’ of staff retention however, there are other avenues to keeping your team happy and mitigating against people leaving. Speaking to people on a regular basis is key to understanding their career ambitions and allowing you, as a finance leader, to be an effective leader.

If you would like to discuss any of the points above, please feel free to contact us here at Savant recruitment. We have the experience, insight into the market and knowledge to help.