Australia’s workforce grew strongly in June, with employment increasing by 76,300 people. However, continued employment growth does not remove the operational cost of losing experienced employees.

When capable people leave, organisations lose more than headcount. They can also lose technical knowledge, trusted stakeholder relationships and an understanding of how decisions are made and work gets done.

Replacement recruitment requires time, management attention and onboarding. Existing employees often absorb additional responsibilities while a role remains vacant and while the replacement builds capability.

The increase in underemployment to 6.5% also highlights the importance of understanding whether employees are receiving the hours, opportunities and development they are seeking.

Retention therefore needs to be considered alongside productivity, workforce risk and service delivery.

Recruitment may replace the position. It cannot immediately replace the experience and organisational knowledge that walked out the door.

“Losing a capable person is rarely just a recruitment issue. It is a loss of knowledge, relationships, judgement and organisational memory that may have taken years to build. A replacement can fill the position, but it takes time to rebuild that depth of capability. That is why retention should be treated as a workforce risk and productivity priority, not simply an HR measure.”

By Justine Eden, Director, Eden Ritchie Recruitment

To meet the Leadership Team at Eden Ritchie, visit us at Eden Ritchie Recruitment