The Great Reshuffle: How to Retain Top Talent
The Great Reshuffle: How to Retain Top Talent
Guest writer Sonya Law tackles on of the challenges facing businesses today: how to retain your top talent in the face of what is being called the great reshuffle.
The great resignation: could it best be described as the great reshuffle?
It’s true that there has always been staff turnover, so the great resignation is not new, however the reasons for leaving and staying are!
So how do we retain our talent?
- Career discussions: We need to be proactive in talking with employees, to discuss their career aspirations or a recruiter will have this conversation for you!
- Training: Employees want to learn and grow. Be prepared to invest in their personal and professional development and ask them an open question: What do you CARE about?
- Purpose & EVP: They want clarity on the purpose of the company and align themselves with it. We need to know what our company’s Employee Value Proposition is in order to attract and retain staff, furthermore, we need to believe it and articulate it with authenticity. Ask yourself the question: What do you CARE about?
- Empathy: Employees want a manager that CARES for their wellbeing. We need to have a holistic approach to the wellness of employees, both physically and mentally. This will require a budget for the investment into structured wellness programs that detects, monitor and support the wellbeing of staff. What is your financial investment into employee wellbeing?
- Leadership: Hiring and educating our mid-level (branch) managers – we know the top reason that employees leave is because of their manager. We need to hire managers who have good leadership skills and educate our existing managers on how to evolve and become better leaders. When was the last time you engaged in leadership training or coaching?
- Value: Visibility of leadership and valuing its people is critical in retaining talent, it is also having the conversation with a resigning employee, to ask the reasons why they are leaving and to ask them to stay. Try to keep them!
We are only as good as our people and our team without our employees we do not have a business. It’s important we understand as HR and Leaders, what are the roadblocks in our businesses and where do our employees need support. Its having a difficult conversation about an employment contract that needs to be sorted, so that we can get on with business. All too often we get sidetracked on what it is we think we should do, what leaders DO is focus on the right things.
When, we are put in a position of leadership it is to serve, it is to understand what is needed to get business done and achieve our goals together as a team. Gone are the days where apathy is a defense or I don’t like conflict is used as an excuse for not having uncomfortable but necessary conversations.
As leaders we need to be addressing issues and people who don’t fit or risk losing talent.
Post Pandemic, employees are looking for:
- Autonomy about when and where they work.
- Flexibility to do LIFE, to spend time with their partners, family, pet’s and be connected to the community in which they live.
- Clarity on what is their passion, what gives them joy, fulfillment and align their life with it. This is the new work life, do LIFE balance!
The entrepreneurial life:
The most interesting reason, that employees are leaving is to pursue their own start up’s, creating businesses that align with their passion and are becoming entrepreneurs.
- Forbes reported statistics that in the US, new business applications are up 95% according to the Census Bureau.
- France is up 20% according to McKinsey.
- Japan is up 14%, in the UK are up 30% according to National Statistical Office.
Jobs in most demand are seeing increases in salaries of up to 30-40%:
The great reshuffle has also pushed up wages because of the lack of supply of seasonal labour and good candidates, due to a candidate short market.
The industries most affected and experiencing this great re-shuffle and increase in salaries are:
- Human Resources
- Information technology
- Accountancy, Legal and Finance.
Compliance is a constraint on time:
The biggest roadblock HR and leaders are facing in retaining its talent is the constraints on time to invest in these initiatives, so much of the role is about compliance due to Pandemic and Vaccinations.
We know though that if we take proactive and positive steps to engage with our employees our businesses will thrive!
“Take the time to look after your people and they will take time to look after your business.”