Every day, we post plenty of job openings for permanent positions, temporary contracts, and interim assignments in the Netherlands.
Our report, “The Expectation Gap,” reveals the biggest challenges companies face in attracting and retaining top talent.
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It is still difficult to recruit and retain top talent. Companies should take the example of professional football teams in the Netherlands, who have been dealing with high turnover rates of their best players for years.
Normally it’s the best and most experienced employees are the who are most likely to leave. What should employers do to retain their most experienced employees? And how do they find the talent to replace people who decide to change companies? They could learn something from their local football team. There are few industries where it´s so difficult to retain your best employees – in this case players – than in professional football. Finding is maybe even harder. How do football teams deal with this challenge and what can companies learn from them?
1. Look for diamonds in the rough
Small football teams cannot afford to buy big stars, so they buy players who have the potential becoming a star in the future or ones who play at smaller, less well known teams. Unless your company is the Real Madrid or Manchester United of your industry, you probably deal with the same challenge.
Location Labs, a company that makes mobile security software, decided to use the same approach as small teams such as AA Gent, Ajax, FC Porto; they look for diamonds in the rough. “We would much rather hire someone who looks like they have a strong curve, gaining more skill over time”, explains their Chief Operating Officer in Business Insider. “Their skill level today might be lower, but their potential is a rocket ship." And the approach works: the retention rate of the company is as high as 95 percent.
2. Invest heavily in training and education
The philosophy of Dutch football teams has always been to create their own talent pools by investing heavily in the training and education of talented young players. That´s how Ajax recently managed to reach the final of the Europa League. Good employers use the same philosophy.
“Employees now have higher expectations from companies and the spotlight is not only on providing clarity of the job to be done and an appropriate salary but in providing excellent conditions to learn, grow and develop,” explains Esther Roman, HR director with PageGroup. “I first realized the world was changing when I moved to Switzerland to launch the office in Zurich. I was busy recruiting people for my team. When I asked a young candidate the question “what is the one reason why you believe I should hire you?” and the candidate replied “what is the one reason why I should choose you as an employer?”
3. Value older employees
Last season Feyenoord won their first title in more than 15 years. What was the basis of their success? The perfect blend of talented young players and older veterans. A team can only thrive if there is a good mix – the same goes for companies. Not only are older employees more loyal – because they are less focused on a better salary and new career opportunities – they can also serve as mentors of the upcoming generation.
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