What is the employee life cycle?

The employee life cycle breaks down an employee’s time at a company into stages. It spans from the initial introduction to your company and ends when the employee leaves the organization. The number of stages in the employee cycle varies by model but will follow the same typical journey with similar major milestones.

It encompasses the entire relationship you have with an employee. Your employees will be at different stages within the life cycle at any given time, so understanding the process and knowing how to manage it well can improve your overall relationship with your employees.

Why the employee life cycle matters

If all employees progress through the employee life cycle anyway, why should you care about it? By managing each step carefully, you can improve the employee experience, which is tied to employee satisfaction, productivity and retention. Focusing on creating a positive experience during each step keeps your employees happier, which can also encourage them to tell others about how employee-friendly your organization is. This can help you attract more talent when you have future vacancies.

Stage 1: Attraction

The life cycle of an employee begins with awareness and attraction for your company. Before an employee can work for you, they have to know your company—and your job opportunities—exist. The attraction phase refers to when the employee is introduced to your company. This can happen even if you don’t currently have job vacancies. A job seeker might hear about your company from a friend who works for you or see a viral social media post from you that piques their interest.

Large, well-known brands have it much easier at this stage because most people have heard of them and want to work for a famous brand. Smaller businesses often have to work harder to get people to notice them and realize they’re a solid employer that treats employees well. However, companies of any size can create a positive employer brand that makes them attractive to applicants.

How to improve stage 1

Attracting talent begins with your company’s reputation. You have to make an excellent first impression to get a job seeker to continue through the cycle. When you focus on improving your company culture, work environment and opportunities, your employees become brand ambassadors for you. They’ll do the work for you to spread the word about your fantastic culture. 

You can also grow brand awareness in person and online. Social media is an easily accessible way to connect with the public and gain attention. You can also get involved in your community by supporting events and organizations to get your name out.

Stage 2: Recruiting and interviewing

This phase encompasses the period from application to hiring. Job seekers enter this stage when you have a job vacancy and they apply.

Your role in the recruiting life cycle phase is to promote and make your vacancies attractive. Getting a large number of applicants lets you be more selective in the people you interview. As you move into the interviews, you’re screening the applicants  to find someone who fits your needs and showing candidates why they want to work for your company.

How to improve stage 2

Improving the recruitment and interviewing stage means you make the process as easy and stress-free as possible for interested job seekers. Here are some ways you can make this stage better:

• Job descriptions. Create concise, detailed job descriptions that provide accurate information on the job duties and requirements. This makes it easier for job seekers to know if they’re qualified and tailor their application to your needs.
• Recruitment methods. Expand recruitment options by trying new methods, such as employee referrals, social media posts and professional organizations.
• Value proposition. Demonstrate what you have to offer job seekers, including a competitive salary and benefits, meaningful work, advancement opportunities and a positive culture.
• Application process. Simplify your application process to make it fast to complete.
• Transparency. Communicate with candidates throughout the process and be transparent about their status. If you leave them wondering or withhold information, you’re showing them your company doesn’t have great communication.
• Screening. Use automated screening methods to help you narrow down the applicants quickly. Have clear criteria before you start screening to review the applicants fairly and consistently.
• Interviewing. Establish a consistent interviewing process. Create structured interview questions to keep things consistent.

Stage 3: Onboarding

You’ve extended a job offer and your top pick has accepted. This moves them into the onboarding phase, which typically lasts anywhere from 90 days to a year. This includes all initial activities that get the employee settled into your company, including orientation and training, as well as ongoing support for several months. It typically ends once the employee reaches full productivity in their role.

During onboarding, employees learn about your organization and their position within it. Successful onboarding can help new employees feel like a part of the team faster and can help you retain them.

How to improve stage 3

A detailed onboarding plan for new hires can help the process go smoothly. If you already have an onboarding plan, review it to ensure it’s organized, consistent and helpful. It’s also important to remember everyone learns and progresses at different rates. Keeping the onboarding process flexible makes it more effective for each person. 

Explore ways you can make onboarding more meaningful and educational. You might look for ongoing support options for new staff members, such as weekly one-on-ones with a supervisor or assigning a mentor for your new hire. Providing materials that describe the role, the company structure and the organization’s values and goals can also help.

Additionally, collecting feedback from newer employees can also help you improve this process. Ask employees who have been with your company a year or two what things could have helped them settle in better. Use their feedback to expand your onboarding program.

Most importantly, ensure every new hire feels welcome. Introduce them to their colleagues, include them in team activities and check in frequently to ensure their needs are met.

Stage 4: Professional development

Once a team member enters the development stage of the employee cycle, they’re settled into the job and ready to learn more. Providing and encouraging professional development opportunities can improve employee happiness while enhancing their skills, making them stronger employees. Employees learn and develop at different rates and have varying interests, so customized development plans are most effective.

How to improve stage 4

To improve the development stage, create a training and development policy for your company. Include opportunities for internal and external training. Tuition reimbursement helps encourage your team to pursue learning opportunities.

You can also support development with career mapping for your team members. This encourages your employees to consider their career goals and make a plan for reaching them. It can help identify new skills and knowledge each person needs to advance. Meeting regularly to check their progress toward their career goals can provide ongoing motivation to grow and learn.

Stage 5: Retention

Working on employee retention helps you maintain a consistent, productive team. High turnover disrupts the team’s dynamic and slows productivity while you train new employees and get them up to speed. Recruiting and training new team members also costs a lot of money.

During the retention phase, you aim to keep your talent with the company by improving their job satisfaction. The company culture, management interactions, salary, benefits and value of an employee’s work all play into retention. 

How to improve stage 5

Creating a positive work environment and providing your employees with challenging, meaningful work can help with the retention phase. Some ways to improve retention include:

• Feedback. Ask for and listen to feedback from your staff. Knowing you’re listening to what team members say can encourage them to stay.
• Transparency. Be transparent about your company goals, challenges and projects. This makes it easier for employees to support those things and makes them feel like you trust them.
• Autonomy. Give employees autonomy with their workload. Micromanaging hurts motivation and makes the work feel less meaningful.
• Culture improvements. Constantly improve your company culture and create an inclusive environment that embraces diversity.
• Flexibility. Offer flexible working options, such as remote work or flexible scheduling. This makes it easier for employees to meet the demands of their jobs while balancing their personal lives.
• Recognition. Employees respond well when they’re recognized for their hard work. Creating a formal recognition program helps you dole out appreciation consistently and rewards employees for what they do.
• Opportunities. Allow employees to try new things and advance to different roles. 

Stage 6: Offboarding

Eventually, many of your employees will move on, whether due to finding a new job, retiring or handling personal matters. Offboarding is the period from when the employee decides to leave until their last day. It involves all the wrap-up tasks you must do to facilitate their departure. It also includes how you handle finding a replacement and ensuring their workload is covered in the meantime.

You might not think you need to improve the offboarding process because the employee is leaving, but it can impact the employees who stay as well as the departing employee. If you treat employees well even through their departure, it shows you care about your employees. 

How to improve stage 6

Conducting exit interviews can help you learn more about why your employees leave. You might identify problems within your organization, such as a lack of support or low pay, that you can improve to retain current employees.

You might be disappointed about losing talent, but keep the departure positive. Express your gratitude for the employee’s contributions and wish them luck in their new endeavors. 

Anticipating staff departures makes it easier to smooth the transition. This allows you to fill the vacancy faster with a new hire with the right skills and talent. Constantly recruiting, even if you don’t have a vacancy, can also speed up the hiring process.

Keep the remaining team informed about the timeline for transitioning duties temporarily and hiring a replacement. Getting them involved and updating them on progress can reduce tension during the transition period.

Stage 7: After departure

Previous employees can still have an impact on your organization after they leave. If you’ve created a positive employment cycle, they could become unofficial brand ambassadors even when they no longer work for you. They might recommend your company to people they know who are looking for a new job.

You could also have an easy hire if the employee chooses to return to your company if their situation changes. 

How to improve stage 7

The best way to improve this stage is by making all previous stages of the employee life cycle positive and memorable. Employees are more likely to become advocates for your brand if you give them a positive experience from their first interaction to their last.

Staying in touch with previous employees can also help. Those connections might encourage them to refer other people to you. It’s also easier to talk to them about new opportunities with your company if you’ve kept in touch.