Tackling Employee Retention & Attrition in Architecture Firms

You may have wondered if the architecture industry would ever recover. After the plummet in 2008, things looked grim. Would we ever get the talent back when the promise of work seemed slim? Now, the architecture industry is finding new footing.

Paying Attention To the Expectations of Employees Goes A Long Way

Placing talent in those positions has become more challenging than ever. What can you do to retain talent once you hire them? Here are a few tips:

You Must Provide Work-Life Balance

A work-life balance is important to Millenials -- the top market for hiring new talent. It requires special patience from senior management to make employees feel balanced. It trickles down so managers need to want it as much as the new employees.

The idea of work-life balance involves flexible scheduling. It also involves providing ample sick days. The ability to request a leave of absence, maternity and paternity leave is important too. This leads to a need to understand employee needs from the top down. It also requires a team mindset that working together to support this is best for everyone.

Make Sure There Is An Advancement Path

Millennials and new talent want to know that advancement is possible. Making a clear path for each role in your firm to grow is important. That growth can be a management or specialization track. With such a path outlined, you have a greater advantage in hiring the best talent.

This path should look well thought out and semi-formal. It must have some flexibility to allow for the uniqueness in individuals. More importantly, a plan that is communicated well will be in written form, or as part of the employment contract.

Create A Career Advancement Mentor Program

Along with advancement opportunities, there must be a mentor program in place. The talent market today expects leadership to groom them for a higher position. It is also a matter of taking a personalized approach for each new hire.

The personalization comes in the form of drafting goals specific to each employee. Then, creating actionable steps for meeting those goals. But, even goals can be difficult to reach without a program in place already.

Put Emphasis on Leadership Development

Now you have an advancement program and a mentor assigned to each employee. So, you can focus on developing their leadership skills. Talent acquisition relies on the benefits you convey to your potential hires. Put emphasis on leadership development. Then you will entice new hires to become part of your organization.

Leadership development falls into the realm of professional development. The mentor will ensure that a new hire is participating to the fullest. Also, potential hires will need to see an example of this in action. It will go a long way in securing their attention.

Increase Cross-Functional Work Opportunities

Advancement and development are an important benefit to provide your new hires. But, you also want to provide diverse opportunities. The diversity comes from making your teams cross-functional. This way team members learn from each other.

The other way to look at cross-functional teams is to allow employees to try new roles. They will learn areas of expertise that complement their primary field. And, it will keep boredom and burnout at bay. This should be conveyed through a team interview.

All of these components will help you attract new hires more effectively, efficiently, and proactively. It will also mean you need to rely on a talent acquisition agency that understands the nuances of the architecture industry. This industry is one of our specializations.

snipebridge is an innovator in managed services for hiring exceptional talent. In our unique model, we reconstructed the four key pillars of hiring - People, Process, Tools and Pricing. Our goal is to enable our customers to accelerate the hiring cycle by 35% and provide significant improvement in quality & retention of employees.

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