Not Focused on Retention? You’d Better Be Focused on Recruiting

The reality facing creative and marketing leaders in 2025 is simple but urgent: your team is at risk, especially if you’re not focused on retention. According to recent data, 65% of employees are actively looking for a new job. In this market, job security and flexibility have officially overtaken compensation as the top priorities for talent. And yes, many are willing to take less money to get them.

At the same time, you’re being asked to do more with less, shrinking budgets, fewer resources, and the growing pressure to deliver qualified leads to hit growth targets. And as if that weren’t enough, marketing and creative teams are expected to master emerging technologies (like AI) that may not even be approved for use by their own companies due to security concerns.

If you’re a team leader and you’re not working proactively to retain your team, you need to be actively recruiting, or at least preparing for when, not if, your team changes. Because if you’re not watching out for your top performers, someone else is.

Flexibility Is the New Currency

Let’s start with what today’s employees want. Work-life balance has now edged out salary as the top factor in career decisions, according to Randstad’s 2025 Talent Trends Report, 83% of professionals rate flexibility and work-life balance as more important than pay. This marks a dramatic shift from the tight labor markets of 2021 through mid-2024, where candidates held most of the power.

Today, workers are prioritizing security, flexibility, and well-being. In fact, many are open to accepting less pay if it means gaining more control over their time and lives. While candidates aren’t as quick to job-hop as they were a year ago, they are keeping their eyes open. And they are more willing to negotiate on compensation, job title, and location, including whether the job is in-person, hybrid, or remote.

Confidence Is Low and Leaders Need to Act – Retention or Recruiting

Confidence in job stability is at an all-time low since the pandemic, and that’s creating quiet tension across departments. Marketing and creative professionals feel overworked and under-supported. They’re being asked to hit ambitious KPIs while navigating constant change. They’re uncertain about their future, and many are starting to look for the exit.

As a leader, this means you need to act fast. Retention has to be your first priority. If not, you need to get serious about your recruiting strategy now.

How to Build a Proactive Recruiting Strategy

Even if you don’t currently have open roles, here’s how to get ahead of the curve:

1. Evaluate Your Team Honestly

• Who’s thriving?
• Who’s just dialing it in?
• Are there signs of burnout, boredom, or disengagement?

2. Prioritize Flexibility and Growth

• If your company is back in-office, are you offering schedule flexibility so people can manage their lives?
• Are you creating growth and training opportunities to keep your team engaged and building their skills?

3. Address Toxicity Immediately

• Is someone on the team causing tension or negativity?
• Don’t wait. Deal with it now before you lose your high performers.

4. Get a Recruiting Partner Onboard Before You Need One
Even if you’re fully staffed, having a trusted recruiting partner under contract ensures that when someone does resign (and there’s a good chance they will), you don’t lose valuable time or momentum.

A talent partner like True Talent Group can:

• Help you design or restructure your team for today’s needs
• Cover temporary leaves or vacation gaps
• Quickly scale your team for urgent projects with fractional talent
• Offer insight into market trends, salary benchmarks, and candidate behavior

The Stakes Are High and the Talent Pool Is Moving

The days of posting a job and waiting for hundreds of great resumes are over. Today’s best talent is moving more carefully but also more selectively. They want flexibility, support, purpose, and security.

You can’t wait until your top performer gives notice to start thinking about how you’ll replace them. The time to build a retention and recruiting plan is now.

At True Talent Group, we specialize in helping leaders like you build high-performing teams that thrive in today’s uncertain, fast-moving market. Whether you need permanent hires, interim support, or help developing a team structure that makes sense for today and the future, we’re here.

Let’s talk before you’re behind.