Your best people may not be job hunting, but they are listening...
The recruitment market feels suppressed at the moment. Fewer roles are being advertised, and fewer people seem to be moving roles. So, it would be easy to look at that and assume your leadership team is settled. But, in my experience, that's exactly when employers need to pay closer attention.
A quiet market can lull employers into a false sense of security. Many teams have been slimmed down over the last few years, and the people who are left are doing more with less. More often than not, they're carrying bigger workloads, often with fewer resources and less support than they had before. And while they may not be actively scrolling job boards, if the right person calls they are likely to take that call.
The transport sector is going through enormous change, from bus franchising to rail reform. That keeps demand high for experienced leaders, so the people organisations need most are still being approached, quiet market or not. But that same change can also put jobs at risk. Organisations are merging, private equity owners are pushing for greater returns and some operators are moving into public ownership. It's inevitable that roles will be made redundant.
This uncertainty tends to play out in two ways. First, large, complex programmes get put on hold, which can make it hard to keep hold of talented people who want and need to be challenged. Second, when investment dries up, people start to question their career prospects. Some move to another organisation and others leave the sector altogether. In the case of UK transport, they can be drawn to large scale programmes of work overseas.
Experienced leaders with in-demand skills and a strong reputation are genuinely scarce. Employers rarely find them through job adverts. They find them through personal, direct approaches, which is a big part of what I do.
What I've learned is that good, experienced people know their worth. When the things that matter to them start to slip, they start listening when they are approached about fresh and exciting challenges.
Often it isn't one big thing. It's lots of small moments where someone feels less valued than they expected to be.
It's worth remembering that how you treat people during the recruitment process tells them exactly what working for you will be like. I once found an excellent candidate for a client. During the process, they were told they were lucky to be considered. The candidate decided to walk away, and honestly? I didn't blame them. First impressions really do last.
Four things that make a real difference
Beyond getting the recruitment process right, a few practical things go a long way:
Be honest about the role. If the scope is broad or the budget is tight, say so. People leave when reality doesn't match the promise.
Invest in the first few months. For every leader I place, I fund three or four sessions with a career coach. The early months are when people either settle in or start to doubt their decision, and a little support at that point makes a big difference.
Keep your talent meaningfully engaged. Make sure people can see they're being developed for greater things. If they feel their career is moving in the right direction with you, they're far less likely to look elsewhere. If they feel they're stagnating, they will.
Talk to your key people before someone else does. Ask what's keeping them, what might tempt them away and what they need to grow. It's a simple conversation, and it's one that too often happens only after a resignation letter has landed.
None of this is complicated. It comes down to treating people with care and respect, consistently, not just when you're worried about losing them. Because you want to keep your best people. And we want them to stay in transport.