Recruiting employees for your business is an essential part of success.

It can be difficult to find the right person with the right skills and attitude to fit into your team and make a positive impact. By understanding the employee life cycle, you can make recruitment easier and more effective.

1) Defining the Employee Life Cycle

The employee life cycle is an organisational model that outlines the different stages of an employee’s journey within a company. It is a comprehensive approach to managing human resources, with the main goal of improving employee engagement, retention and productivity.

The employee life cycle typically begins at attraction and ends with departure. In between, it comprises of different stages such as onboarding, learning and development, performance management and evaluation, career progression and termination.

2) The Seven Stages of the Employee Life Cycle

1. Attract: This stage focuses on creating a positive image and attracting candidates who match your organisation’s requirements. It involves developing job postings, utilising the right recruiting channels, and setting up candidate events such as group interview sessions, attending careers days.

2. Select: This phase includes activities like sorting through job applications, conducting interviews, and performing reference checks.

3. Onboard: This is where you introduce the employee to the organisation’s culture and expectations. It includes activities like orientation programs, training sessions, and assigning new roles.

4. Develop: This is the stage where you create opportunities for employees to grow and develop. It involves activities like assigning new responsibilities, providing training resources, and offering career guidance.

5. Retain: This is the phase where you focus on keeping employees engaged and satisfied with their work. This can include activities like offering incentives and rewards, creating an inclusive environment, and allowing employees to have input on decisions.

6. Separate: This stage involves activities like setting up exit interviews and outplacement support, as well as preparing the necessary paperwork for termination.

7. Evaluate: Finally, this stage involves assessing the performance of the employee over their time in the organisation and determining how to improve for future hires. This includes activities like analysing employee data, conducting surveys, and engaging in exit interviews.  

3) How the Employee Life Cycle Can Improve Recruitment

The employee life cycle (ELC) is a critical part of any successful recruitment strategy. It defines the stages that employees go through in their career progression, and if implemented correctly, can be an incredibly effective tool to attract, engage, and retain the best talent.

By understanding the purpose of each stage, companies can use the ELC to streamline the recruitment process and develop comprehensive strategies for attracting and retaining top talent.

One way that the ELC can improve recruitment is by helping to identify potential job candidates. Companies should carefully consider each stage of the ELC when crafting their recruiting strategy. For example, by evaluating each step of the ELC it becomes easier to identify where there may be potential openings or openings that need to be filled.

Another way that the ELC can help improve recruitment is by providing a framework for how employees should be managed throughout their careers. The ELC provides guidance on how to structure rewards, benefits, and training opportunities for different job roles, as well as how to properly manage promotions and performance reviews. By having these processes in place, employers are better equipped to attract, engage, and retain the best talent.

The Employee Life Cycle provides employers with a powerful tool for improving their recruitment strategies. By understanding each step of the process and using it to guide their hiring decisions, companies can better focus their efforts on attracting, engaging, and retaining the most talented individuals. With an effective ELC in place, employers can be sure they have taken every step necessary to bring on board the best people for their organisation.

If you need any advice and need help, please reach out at hello@hrdynamics.com.au or 1800 877 747