​RETAINING TALENT IN 2022

Spreading Joy: Sharp Consultancy’s Annual Easter Egg Drive

At Sharp Consultancy, our annual Easter Egg Drive has once again brought together our team, clients, and community to support local charities and spread a little cheer. As a finance and accountancy recruitment business rooted in Yorkshire, we’re proud to use our network to give something back—and this year has been no exception.Led by Tom Davage, Senior Consultant in our South Yorkshire office, our team has been out and about collecting Easter egg donations from our fantastic clients. The generosity shown has been incredible, especially given the ongoing challenges many continue to face. Thanks to everyone who contributed, we were able to deliver meaningful support to three wonderful charities in our region: Paces, a specialist centre supporting children with cerebral palsy and motor disorders; St Luke’s Hospice, which offers compassionate end-of-life care; and The Family Works, a trauma informed, family support project working alongside underprivileged families.Tom, who organised this year’s initiative, shared: “When you hear the stories from the people working within these charities, it really opens your eyes to the challenges others face. If we can bring a smile to someone’s face—even through something as simple as an Easter egg—it makes it all worthwhile. Every bit of support counts.” Seeing familiar donators from past years and welcoming new ones has been truly heart-warming. It’s a testament to the kind and community-minded nature of the businesses we work with. To all our clients who donated, thank you. Your kindness and continued support make this initiative possible and help us make a real difference. If you’d like to get involved next year or learn more about the causes we support, we’d love to hear from you. Together, we can keep making a positive impact—one small gesture at a time.

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Retaining your most talented individuals is a challenge for any business; with fierce competition to secure the best candidates, savvy hiring managers are pulling out all the stops to attract new employees. We take a look at the top reasons that people will look to leave an organisation and what employers can do to make them stay.

Make training a priority as one of the top reasons for people to seek out a new opportunity is a lack of professional development in their current role.
Ensure you have the right leadership skills in place to engage and motivate the workforce. Have clear goals in place for the organisation and know what skills you will need to achieve your ambitions. Communicate your vision to your team so they can buy into what you hope to achieve and see where they can make a contribution.
Understand what each member of your workforce wants to achieve in their career and how the business can meet these ambitions. Good employees are motivated by the opportunity to gain promotions and take on additional opportunities. Be creative and potentially consider options for departmental restructures or establishing new teams to open up career progression opportunities for key members of staff.
Make sure you have your onboarding process right. Having enthused your new recruit during the interview process, ensure you have a robust induction programme in place that allows for regular updates and feedback to address any immediate concerns.
Recognise the contribution that people make to the business – positive feedback and acknowledging hard work go a long way to ensuring a feel-good factor amongst your staff.
Whilst there may be times when longer hours are necessary, ensure that employees are not being expected to regularly manage an unreasonable workload. Understanding what resources are needed and have clear and open lines of communication; talking to your team on an on-going basis is essential and allows you to address potential issues before they escalate into a bigger problem.
Understand what value employees place on benefits and rewards. Salary is only one part of the package - would people welcome flexible working hours, increased holiday allowance or a contribution towards childcare costs? Is there scope to enable individuals to create a benefits package that can be tailored to their particular needs?
Recognise that some staff turnover is necessary for any company to stay fresh and move forward; conduct exit interviews to understand people’s reasons for moving on and put in place measures to address any lessons learnt.

Sharp Consultancy specialises in the recruitment of temporary, interim and permanent finance and accountancy professionals. With offices in Leeds and Sheffield our highly experienced team of consultants recruit for positions throughout Yorkshire and beyond. CONTACT US today to find out more.