While it may be a over-used sentiment in 2022, the world is facing some shaky, uncertain times and there’s plenty more of it ahead – it will be some time until we’re in calm waters again. With this in mind, it’s important that HR processes, from recruitment and onboarding, to stay interviews and offboarding, are conducted in a way that acknowledges and considers the global uncertainty. 

Recently, I had the privilege to be in Bangkok for NPAworldwide’s Asia conference. Soulidify is a member, so I joined recruitment representatives from all over the world as we came together at this recent gathering. While there were a huge amount of topics covered and ideas explored, it was clear to me that the market is similar, right across the world. There are cost of living/cost of doing business pressures, political uncertainties, and a whole host of social and economic upheavals. 

You may have heard the acronym VUCA – short for volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity. It’s plain to see that this acronym is just about the perfect description that we are all attempting to navigate currently. 

The reality is that no one could have predicted the combination of crises we’re facing. This makes it all the more essential that businesses everywhere start to plan for the unexpected. 

While there are lots of small ways you can help your team to be well-positioned to handle anything that comes their way, there are two areas you should be focusing on in particular if you want your business to be ready for anything: recruitment and onboarding.

Recruit the best talent 

Weathering unpredictable storms is a lot easier with the right people on your side in your business. 

This means that organisations need to get the recruitment and onboarding process right from the get-go. Ensure you’re working with agencies and recruitment firms that are able to find and entice staff that is good fits, the key to your productivity, integrating seamlessly into the existing team and culture. 

Once recruitment has found the right people, it’s also your responsibility to make sure they are brought into the team smoothly, and given access to the right information, tools, and resources to help them do their job and as they drive your organisation toward success.

To give your organisation the best chance of keeping your head above water, you need the right people that will keep day-to-day operations running smoothly, so leadership can focus on the big hiccoughs that come your way. The only way this works is when recruitment and onboarding processes work together. 

Retain your best talent 

One of the best tools in your arsenal during tricky times is your existing employees – particularly your best and brightest. 

When things get rocky, employees will jump ship and, with the market as tight as it is, organisations cannot afford to lose valuable employees – the employees who are ‘model employees’, with the kinds of attributes, skillsets and attitudes that will be difficult to replace while there are staff shortages. 

So, if these employees are your best chance at success, how do you keep them? 

Stay interviews are key to retaining your best and brightest employees. Conducted in the midst of someone’s time with an organisation, stay interviews are a chance to check in, take the temperature of their career, and understand what’s motivating them to stay or, importantly, whether they’re thinking about leaving soon. 

Stay interviews can help you anticipate the problems that might arise, looking proactively at what motivates staff to stay, and mitigate any risks of losing valuable employees. Stay interviews work best when insights can be gathered accurately and those insights can be acted upon. They can be one of your best bets for avoiding undergoing the offboarding process prematurely, leaving you in the lurch throughout uncertain times.