It’s a job-seeker’s market, and because highly qualified employees in the workforce have lots of options, they are not afraid to jump ship to a new position with a new company when they see clear benefit to do so. However, this doesn’t mean all loyalty has gone out the window. Treat employees well and give them incentives to stay, and they will be much more inclined to decline other offers.

Here are four ways to keep your company competitive in the recruitment and retention of top-notch employees.

Connect with prospective talent on social media

Your goal is to find the best prospects and attract them to your company. Connecting with them on social media before they come for an interview allows you to highlight your brand vision, and is of mutual benefit to both employers and prospective workers. Engage interested applicants with relevant content not only about your business, but with industry-wide information as well.

Develop and manage staff talent effectively

Once on the team, new employees want to make their mark and be included in all types of projects. It’s a good idea to have an online database of employee skill sets and archives of what projects employees have worked on. This can be referred to when managers need to staff a new project. Perhaps a name will come up they hadn’t initially thought of as being a good fit. It’s vital to give workers not only the skills they need to shine, but also the opportunity to build upon each responsibility they take on for the company.

An appreciated employee is a motivated employee

Employees want to be recognized for their efforts. This can be something as simple as verbal confirmation they are doing a good job and making a positive impact on the company, or small tokens of appreciation like managers bringing coffee and bagels to the office to say thank you to the team. Of course, employees are also motivated by opportunities for promotion and salary increases. Employees need to see that there is a clear path to progress they can achieve if they stay with the company.

Have a roadmap for future staffing demands

Don’t just focus on the here and now. Even if you are fully staffed at the moment, look at projects likely to be developed in the next couple of years and decide what skill sets you are going to require. See what is missing in your current roster and either start training in-house staff or make an outline of when you will need to start the recruitment process to fill additional positions.

About NextGen

NextGen is the brainchild of longtime telecom professionals with nearly 50 years of experience and millions of dollars in Telecom Recruiting Services. We focus on establishing long term relationships with our clients and candidates so we can recruit the best and the brightest in the telecom industry. This ‘quality over quantity’ approach is at the heart of everything we do and has resulted in successful job placements at Fortune 1000 firms worldwide.