The Employee Lifecycle Explained in 5 Stages

From onboarding to eventual offboarding – the employee lifecycle sits at the very core of your company’s operations. It’s what defines your business as a workplace, laying the foundations of your employer brand’s reputation in the job market. 

Here we dive into some of the key moments in the employee lifecycle, helping you to navigate and optimise the experience your colleagues have within your business.

What is the ’employee lifecycle’?

The employee lifecycle is made up of every experience employees have during their time with your business. This begins even before they reach the recruitment stage, stemming from their very first interaction with your brand and its opportunities…

5 Stages of the employee lifecycle:

While the length of the employee lifecycle is bound to vary from person to person, the concept can be broken down into five key stages:

#1 – Attract: Engagement with your employer brand

The attraction stage marks the moment that employees first engage with your employer brand. This may be through exposure to one of your job ads, careers pages, or even through an employee/recruiter referral.

As an employer, it’s your job to make these initial connections by shouting about your brand and its opportunities. Make sure your recruitment advertising aligns with your company’s cultural and professional aims, and appeals to the kind of talent you’re looking to attract.

First impressions count; employees’ first interaction with your brand will lay the foundations for their future with your business – make this count!

Lifecycle guide #1: How to attract and recruit employees for free

#2 – Recruit: Their hiring journey & experience

Recruitment is about far more than filling vacancies – it’s about building sustainable relationships with compatible talent in your industry.

This is why it’s so important to deliver a positive hiring journey for your candidates, supporting their future commitment to your brand and its values. If candidates are met with a slow, clunky, or unresponsive hiring journey, their overall relationship with your employer brand will take a hit.

Map out your hiring process from start to finish, making communication a priority at every single stage. Keep candidates updated throughout their recruitment journey; ensure timely responses to applications, interview bookings, feedback, and any queries they may have.

Lifecycle guide #2: The 7 stages of recruitment

#3 – Onboard: The critical first six months

A successful onboarding process is critical for ensuring employees’ success and satisfaction in their roles. Think about the first six months of an employee’s time with your business – what tools and resources do they need to make the best start possible?

Your onboarding strategy should focus on preparing employees for their future with your business. This includes things like induction events, learning/training, and probation reviews.

If your onboarding process fails to deliver, you’ll run the risk of reduced productivity, slower training processes, and premature resignations. It is, therefore, essential to get new recruits off to the best start possible with your business.

Lifecycle guide #3: Onboarding checklist

#4 – Retention & Progression

Once employees have become settled within their roles, your sights should be set on their long-term retention and future success. This means establishing effective learning and development resources, as well as keeping track of employees’ changing expectations in working with your business.

Retention and progression go hand-in-hand; employees are rarely happy to remain stagnant in their roles for an extended period. Quite simply, if you can’t offer them sufficient career progression and support, they will start to look elsewhere for these opportunities. 

This is by far the longest stage of the employee lifecycle – covering everything in between onboarding and offboarding. Your goal should be to make this step as long and successful as possible, building a long-standing network of diversely-skilled employees.

Lifecycle guide #4: Worker Retention – Why employees leave and how to prevent it

#5 – Exit & Elevate (succession planning)

No matter the strength of your retention strategy, every employee must eventually leave your business. Whether this is due to retirement, relocation, or a change in career – what matters is your approach to sourcing their replacement.

This is where elevation, or succession planning, comes in – upskilling employees within your workforce to prepare for their succession into more senior roles. This ensures a smooth transition upon the retirement/resignation of your more seasoned colleagues, eliminating the need to search for an external replacement.

Your key focus at this stage should be ensuring a positive experience for the departing employee, while putting the stops in place to hand-over their responsibilities.

It’s always beneficial to remain on good terms with departing employees. You never know how their skills and good reference may benefit your business in the future!

Lifecycle guide #5: Workforce Planning – The complete guide

Introducing…

Talos Engage: Understand your employees’ expectations

Want to give employees the best possible experience in working for your business? Talos Engage is the answer!

Our gamified employee insights platform gives employers total visibility over their colleagues’ wants, needs, and expectations. This allows HR teams to build a more proactive, dynamic workforce strategy – ensuring engagement and retention within their teams.

– Identify your employees’ wants, needs, and expectations

Employees simply play the Engage swipe-card game to give critical feedback on your company’s performance as their employer. This gives you real-time visibility over their changing expectations, allowing you to adapt your HR strategy to meet their needs.

– Become an ‘employer of choice’ with a strengthened EVP

With Talos Engage, it’s never been easier to become an ‘employer of choice’ within your industry. Strengthen your employee value proposition (EVP) using real-time workforce insights, allowing you to make data-backed changes to your workplace benefits and management strategies. 

– Retain employees for the long-run with effective management

Meeting employees’ expectations is of paramount importance for securing their long-term retention within your business. Talos Engage makes it easier than ever to regularly review employees’ wants, needs, and opinions – helping you to avoid engagement challenges before they begin to take effect.

Discover our gamified solution for employee lifecycle management: