From First Impression to Lasting Impact: Building a Medtech Team That Stays

When a good employee leaves after six or twelve months, it's tempting to look at what happened immediately before they resigned.

Sometimes the more useful question is what happened much earlier.

Were they recruited into the job they thought they were accepting? Did the reality match what was discussed at interview? Did they get the start they needed? Were expectations clear? Could they see how they might develop?

You can't prevent every resignation. People leave businesses for all sorts of reasons, and sometimes moving on is simply the right next step for them.

But if you want to build a MedTech team that stays, retention shouldn't only become a consideration when somebody looks unhappy. Some of the foundations are laid before you've even made the hire.

Think About What You Need Before You Recruit

When somebody resigns, the natural reaction is often to replace them as quickly as possible.

But before looking for another version of the person who has left, take the opportunity to look at the role again.

Has it changed since you last recruited? Does the territory still make sense? Are the responsibilities right? What does the wider team need now? What worked well with the previous employee, and what didn't?

If the person leaving has only been with you for a relatively short period, it's also worth understanding why.

That doesn't mean every vacancy requires a major restructure. Sometimes a straightforward replacement is exactly what's needed.

The important thing is to recruit for the job you need now rather than automatically reaching for an old job description and starting again.

Recruit for the Job That Actually Exists

Recruitment is naturally about attracting people to an opportunity. But there's a difference between presenting a role positively and presenting a version of it that the successful candidate won't recognise once they start.

If a territory needs rebuilding, don't describe it as an established territory without explaining the reality.

If the role involves regular overnight stays, be clear about the travel.

If the manager has a hands-on management style, don't sell the position as one where the successful candidate will be left entirely to their own devices.

If progression is important to the candidate but there is unlikely to be a management opportunity in the foreseeable future, don't imply that one is just around the corner.

The same applies to targets, earning potential, training, products, working arrangements and the responsibilities of the role.

You want candidates to be enthusiastic about joining. You also want that enthusiasm to be based on an accurate understanding of what they're joining.

Understand What the Candidate Is Looking For Too

Recruitment isn't only about establishing whether somebody can do the job.

It's also an opportunity to understand why they're considering leaving their current employer and what needs to be different in their next role for the move to be worthwhile.

One candidate might want more autonomy. Another might want stronger management support. Someone may be motivated by earning potential, while another wants greater clinical involvement, different products, larger accounts or a route into management.

You don't have to provide everything every candidate wants.

You do need to know whether the things that matter most to the person you're hiring are reasonably compatible with the opportunity you're offering.

If there's an obvious mismatch at interview stage, making the hire anyway doesn't make that mismatch disappear.

Don't Disappear Between Acceptance and Day One

For some MedTech roles, there can be several months between a candidate accepting an offer and actually starting.

Once they've resigned from their existing job, don't assume the recruitment process is finished and disappear until their first morning.

You don't need to contact them constantly. A sensible level of communication can simply reassure them that everything is on track and help maintain the relationship you've already built.

It also gives you an opportunity to provide practical information about their first day, training or anything they need to prepare.

Most importantly, if something material changes before they join, tell them.

A change of manager, territory, team structure, product responsibility, working arrangements or start date shouldn't be a surprise they discover after arriving.

Give People a Start That Helps Them Succeed

Starting a new job involves a lot of information, unfamiliar people and new expectations.

A good onboarding process gives somebody a clear route through it rather than expecting them to work everything out as they go.

What that looks like will depend on the role.

A new medical sales professional might need to understand:

• The products and therapy area
• The clinical environment they'll be working in
• The territory and history of key accounts
• Existing opportunities and customer relationships
• Internal systems and processes
• Targets and how performance will be measured
• Who they need to work with internally
• What they're expected to achieve during their first few months

Some roles will also require field accompaniment, clinical training, product certification or time with different parts of the business.

Have the basics ready. Make sure they know what their first week looks like, who they can go to with questions and what you expect from them.

Then keep talking once the initial induction is over.

Onboarding isn't finished because somebody has collected their laptop and completed the mandatory training.

Make Development Part of the Conversation

People don't necessarily need a promotion every year to feel that their career is moving forward.

Development can take many forms.

For somebody in MedTech, it might mean taking responsibility for larger or more complex accounts, developing greater clinical or product knowledge, mentoring a newer colleague, becoming involved in a launch or taking on a project outside their usual responsibilities.

For others, the longer-term direction might be sales management, marketing, key accounts or another part of the business.

Not everybody will want the same thing.

The important thing is to understand what development means to the individual rather than assuming that everybody is working towards the next job title.

And if somebody wants something you can't realistically offer, be honest about that too.

Don't Wait for the Resignation to Ask How Things Are Going

Managers naturally spend a lot of time talking to employees about performance.

In a sales team, conversations might revolve around targets, accounts, pipeline, activity and what needs to happen next.

Every so often, talk about the job itself too.

What's working well?

What's frustrating them?

Is the role what they expected when they joined?

Is there anything they expected to be doing that they aren't?

What would they like to develop?

Is there anything making their job unnecessarily difficult?

You won't necessarily be able to fix everything somebody raises. The value is in understanding what's going on before the first indication of a problem is a resignation letter.

Look for Patterns When People Leave

Some employee turnover is inevitable.

One person leaving doesn't automatically mean there's a problem with the role, manager or business.

Repeated departures are different.

If you keep recruiting the same territory every 12 or 18 months, look at why.

If people tend to leave one part of the business more frequently than another, that's worth understanding.

If strong employees regularly leave once they reach a particular point in their career, ask whether there is a pattern.

Likewise, if new hires frequently struggle during their first year, look back at recruitment and onboarding as well as the individuals themselves.

You don't need complicated retention software to start doing this.

Keep track of which roles repeatedly become vacant, how long employees tend to stay and the reasons people give for leaving. Combine that with what you're hearing from the people who are still there.

The purpose isn't to eliminate turnover. It's to identify whether you're repeatedly losing good people for reasons you could realistically do something about.

Building a Team That Stays Starts Earlier Than You Think

There isn't one initiative that will make good employees stay.

It comes from a series of much smaller things throughout their time with the business.

Recruit them into the job that actually exists. Understand what they're hoping to get from the move. Stay in contact before they join. Give them a clear start. Keep talking about their development and occasionally ask how the job itself is working for them.

Then, when people do leave, pay attention to what their departures are telling you.

You won't keep everybody, and nor should that be the goal.

But if you're repeatedly replacing good people, don't only ask how you can recruit the next one more quickly.

Ask whether there's anything you could do differently to give the next person a better reason to stay.