Chad Sowash, from Chad & Cheese "Are we going to do nothing but fight fires"

Let’s get started! What is the financial impact of high staff churn on organisations?

“Employee attrition is hurting businesses, especially today. It’s hurting the economy. And I think it’s time that We (the People of HR, Talent Acquisition and Talent Management) understand our golden opportunity to lead businesses in identifying the areas that are negatively impacting the bottom line. HR needs to make the business case to get the budget so they can start to curb churn, and develop talent that’s already been pulled in-house and get better matches for the company itself. Churn is good: it’s going to happen, it’s natural. But high churn means that you can’t get products and services out the door in good time. And if you can’t serve and retain your customers, you can’t grow that wallet share. So it has a direct impact on the company’s revenue streams and its bottom line.”

Aside from the financial implications, does a high employee churn affect other team members too?

“Once the churn starts, then again you’ve got somebody to your left and to your right that’s leaving. A couple of things happen there. Number one, did they get a better position moving out? Is the grass actually greener? And those are the thoughts that go through the staff’s heads. Not to mention that, while those positions are unfilled, you’re spreading your staff too thin. So not only are they thinking: ‘Is the grass greener?’ but also, ‘Man, I am really overworked here.’”

What might high levels of churn indicate about the company itself?

“It definitely signifies that there are problems within the organisation. And these could be anything from a bad fit, bad management, along with not enabling people to see a career path or a future at that organisation. There are many different prongs to that, but there’s only one sector that really has the opportunity to view and see where all those problems could prospectively be – and that’s human resources, talent acquisition and talent management.”

How can companies ensure they’re attracting the right candidates in the first place?

“Targeting is one way to ensure that those individuals have the right skill sets. There are so many platforms out there today that can help you through different types of assessments to be able to provide more of a rich background of that individual. And then you’ll be able to understand whether the individual is good for the role and the company. I think it’s the right balance. You need to make sure that you have a nice balanced orchestration of what’s going on because you can bring in the best talent in the world but if they have bad management or can’t see a place to actually progress within the organisation, well you’ve spent a lot of money on the front end just to watch them go out the door. If we put all of our eggs in the recruitment basket and don’t think about retention and attrition and how it impacts the organisation, then it’s only half the equation.”

What would you say is key to reducing staff churn?

“Right out of the gate, the biggest problem that companies have right now is the huge gap between the recruitment and the talent management portion of who’s responsible for actually ensuring that you’re keeping them happy and understanding their needs. It’s incredibly important that you identify who is accountable for the entire talent lifecycle. Companies are always talking about being fair and inclusive, offering hybrid work, improving the quality of hire… those types of things. Right, we can focus on doing all that. It will help us from a retention standpoint, it will help lessen the churn. We just have to understand the equation to get to where we want."

Key ways to reduce staff churn

 
• For both recruitment and retention, look at the bigger strategic picture.
 
• Understand the individual’s expectations, so you can try to meet them.
 
• Demonstrate to candidates that there is internal mobility and that there’s a path for them to stay within the organisation.
 
• Identify who is responsible and accountable for the entire talent lifecycle.
 
• There needs to be emphasis and time spent on making sure your employees are happy.
 
• Understand that no organisation exists today without talent being brought to its doors. Try to understand the business and its needs.

What about retaining staff in tricky roles?

“Some roles are definitely going to be much more high churn than others. There are many different factors that come into being able to keep people around, but the hiring process is incredibly helpful to make sure you get a good fit and understand the individual’s expectations, so you can try to meet those expectations. That’s pretty key. And then being able to at least demonstrate that there is internal mobility. These are things that companies really need to execute and then share outcomes

and successes.”

Recruitment has changed so quickly over the years. What are the biggest challenges at the moment?

“Recruiters are overtaxed, they have way too many things on their plate. So anybody who is in leadership and HR and talent acquisition and talent management should be focusing on looking at their process methodologies. Because, more than likely, those are 10-15 years old. They need to rethink and redesign the entire process, not only for the candidate, but also for the great talent that you already have in place: your recruiters. So you have to make the recruiter’s job more enjoyable rather than just sitting around at a keyboard doing data entry. Nobody loves that. Recruiters are people, and they want to have that engagement.”

Talking opportunities, what do you think the benefits are of using AI in recruitment?

“For years, because we’ve had so many candidates come into the pipeline, recruiters couldn’t handle it. Therefore you had many candidates go into a black hole. They applied for a job, but never heard from anybody. So there are many different things that we can do to be able to use technology to help us scale better, to be able to provide candidates with a better experience and then try to provide recruiters with the opportunity to have that face-to-face interaction.”

Do you think younger generations are looking for different things out of their roles?

“Well, they always are. The market is fluid. What people want changes constantly. So we can’t get stuck into a brand identity that is immovable. Because if we do, we’re going to find ourselves in the same situation that many companies are in today, where they can’t attract the right talent and they sure as hell can’t keep them.”

You’re known for speaking your mind on your podcast. Tell us more…

“When we did our first podcast it really exploded because we hit a gap and I think a nerve in the industry because HR is always buttoned up. It’s always fluffy, it’s always nice. It doesn’t say the wrong things, but that’s not how people think, right? So we wanted to be the dark side of that and say, this is really what’s happening out there. And then challenging vendors, challenging HR professionals and whatnot, and dropping a few f-bombs here and there.”

And why do you think it’s important that those honest conversations are had?

“Because we’re humans, right? We need and we want the truth. It’s all about being able to stand up and really poke fun at – but also challenge – the industry as well as amplify other voices in our industry who are experts in specific areas like diversity, equity, inclusion, and turnover. And then also help the industry understand that we are the beating heart of every organisation. So, to be able to really help HR and the whole group stiffen their spine, get a little moxie behind them, and then go out there and do business.”

What would you like to see happen to the industry in the future?

“We – as HR, talent acquisition and management professionals – need to be the power players in the room. We’re at the kids’ table and that’s the thing that pisses me off the most. No organisation exists without us. We need to understand that and stiffen our spine. What I love to do is to challenge people in these HR roles to get to know the whole business better. They have to understand how bringing the talent in the door actually impacts the organisation. Once that’s understood, we become the power player.”

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