Retention Services

How much does it cost to replace a key team member if they leave? According to Hebenstreit, (2008), the expense to the organization for recruiting a new employee costs half to 200% of the former employee’s salary.

Think about it: losing a single employee on a $100,000 salary can cost a company $200,000 or more to replace.

As headhunters we know well, that to gain a competitive advantage, businesses are putting significant effort and resources into finding and retaining the best employees possible. However, no matter what your company does to nurture your top talent, sometimes they leave your organization. And the cost of losing an employee might be greater than you think.

Turnover can have a negative impact on employee morale and productivity, but the longer-term impact is on company revenue. Recruiting and training new team members requires time and money.

The Hard Costs Of Losing An Employee

Many factors contribute to the high cost, including the recruitment fee paid to recruiters for the replacement. The ‘notice period’ payments, which in much of Europe can be 3-6 month salary, and the possibility of a demand of increased salary from the replacement hire, (the University of Pennsylvania has found that external hires demand 18-20% more in salary than internal hires).

And if these direct, hard costs are intimidating, what about the indirect costs that result after losing an employee and the company knowledge they have?

I was recruited by David for the role of Chair of Mixergy a cleantech start-up company entering its growth phase. David was professional throughout the process, he not only kept me updated on my progress though the recruitment steps but also offered guidance on how VC led investment boards approached the challenge of securing a chair. David continued to stay in contact after the selection decision was made to ensure that my first month in Mixergy was a positive experience also checking in with the other board members – excellent stakeholder management. From initial contact, through the interview process, contract discussions and starting the role, David was supportive, engaging and effective. He delivered an excellent fit between client side requirements and my skill set and aspirations, great work!

David Pinder, Executive Chair - Mixergy

David Hunt and Hyperion have been involved in several high-level recruitments for EVBox, both in the UK as well as other European countries. Professional, thorough and consistently going the extra mile are but just a few reasons that we wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Hyperion when recruiting new staff.

Peter van Praet, COO, EVBox

JenaBatteries was looking for an addition to our leadership team. We needed a recruiting professional who can understand what we need and who has a strong candidate network to quickly identify the best match. Wolfgang Kick at Hyperion exceeded our expectations.

Dr Olaf Conrad, Managing Director, JenaBatteries
Our Successes | Case Studies

The Indirect Costs Of Employee Turnover

Time is money as we know. How much management time is spent on the hiring of a key replacement? Hours, days, weeks? How much time then spent on onboarding and training that new hire? It can take 8-12 weeks to replace a key team member when they leave your company. And once a new person joins the team, you will be faced with another four to eight weeks (at a minimum) before your new hire is fully trained, comfortable, and productive in their new role.

How much management time is spent covering for the lost employee? What will be the impact on your revenue, product development, or client relationships?

The Cost of Lost Knowledge and damaged team culture

What makes your existing team so good at their jobs is the unique skills and knowledge that they have cultivated in their positions. During their time at your company, they have developed relationships internally as well as with customers, gathering insights that are beneficial to the ongoing success of the organization. When an employee leaves your company, they theoretically take that knowledge with them. If they are key team member, and therefore probably pretty popular, what is the damage to team morale and company culture? When key employees leave, “others take time to ask ‘why?

Who knows best what motivates someone to leave your company?

We do! Day in, day out, every day, our team are speaking to star performers in start-up and scale-up cleantech businesses across Europe and North America. We are expert in asking the questions that unearth what makes them open to a new role, and therefore to leaving your company. We also know what makes them say “no thanks, I’m really happy where I am.”

Poacher turned gamekeeper!

“For our clients, and potential clients, we offer our knowledge, expertise and advice to help you devise practices and strategies that mitigate your risk of losing key employees, for a fraction of the cost of replacing them.”

This includes a:
⦿ A full review of your company’s internal communication style and strategy
⦿ A full review of your hiring, onboarding, training, personal development and retention tools and strategies
⦿ Anonymous interviews with your employees to get you the real employee feedback on your culture, productivity, and appeal as an organisation to work for.
⦿ A final report on the above with strategies and advice on where your company can improve and decrease the risk of losing key staff.

Employee Retention Consultation
Employee Attraction & Company Culture Consultation

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