Employee Attraction & Retention

Employee Attraction

The pandemic changed the world, and it will never go back to the way it was. The world was on track to be where we are now, as it pertains to the housing crisis and lower working population, in 6-7 years time. The pandemic sped it up.

When the world shut down those who could go virtual, went virtual. When restrictions lifted 70% of people went back to work. Having said that 237K people left the industry where work from home or desirable shifts were not an option.  Statistics show that if you are not offering WFH or Hybrid work environments, then you are reducing your candidate pool by 50%.

Where did everybody go? Think of a pyramid. Historically you start in a company, and as you move up the pyramid you move up into management until you reach the tip of the pyramid and then you retire. What we are seeing now is that the pyramid is upside down. There are far fewer people coming into the marketplace than there use to be. Birth rates are down, immigration is lower than anticipated it would be.  The next level in the inverted pyramid shows Jr Staff (Millennials) The one up from that are the bottom of the baby boomers/Gen x, and then the top of the inverted pyramid being the retiring boomer population.

Now consider this. This scenario is not unique to Canada. This is a global issue. All employers globally are in the same boat and are all targeting the same population. With the ability to work virtually, global employers are now able to hire Canadians further reducing the Canadian work force. There is currently a 5% jobless rate in Canada and 3.5% in the US. There are 1 M job openings in Canada, 10.5 M in the US. Be sure that the US is targeting Canadians.

 

Employee Retention = Employee Engagement

Every company should do an employee engagement survey, to get a baseline as to employee engagement. Then do one annually after. Companies stopped doing this due to the cost but companies like Survey Monkey offer employee engagement surveys as a basic template.

To really keep on top of employee engagement, the style of leadership needs to change based on the demographic of the employees. Even small changes can improve engagement which then improves the bottom line.

One way is to recognize and leverage employee strengths rather than rigid job titles. Higher employee engagement can mean 27% higher profits, 50% higher sales, 50% higher customer loyalty, 38% higher productivity.

Successful Leadership needs the following:

1. Empathy
2. Flexibility
3. Truthfulness & Trust
4. Clarity
5. Communication (if you think you are communicating enough, double it)
6. (Know your people, develop them, motivate them)

Here are some stats from an employee engagement Gallup Poll

• 59% are not engaged.
  • These are people who are doing an honest day’s work but are not rockstars
  • These people do 60% of the work
  • Think about them as being worth $0.70/dollar
• 27% are engaged.
  • These are the rockstars
  • These people do 60% of the work
  • Think about them as being worth $0.90/dollar
• 14% are actively disengaged.
  • These are people who are disruptive at the office, the slackers, those who, when companies went WFH decided to take meetings in bed.
  • They are doing 20% of the work.
  • Think about them as being worth $0.50/dollar

The challenge of the traditional employer is that they tend to address that 14% who are actively disengaged when writing policy and in turn that upsets the engaged, turning them to not engaged and ultimately causes them to leave.

It’s more important to nurture the top talent. Rather than offering a counteroffer to a departing ENGAGED employee, instead offer them the option to return if they find that they are experiencing buyers’ remorse.  Employers should keep in touch with those who depart to ensure they are happy with the change they made.

Culture is the absolute determinant of employee engagement (THIS IS WHY THEY JOIN)

1. Why is this job important
   1. Geography
   2. Vocation
   3. Location
   4. Pay, etc.
2. Who will I work with (THIS IS WHY PEOPLE STAY)
   1. Boss
   2. Employees
   3. Customers, etc.
3. What will I be doing (THIS IS WHY PEOPLE LEAVE)
   1. Is the job what I was told I would be doing in interview
   2. Does the job align with job descriptions
   3. Is the job in line with what I enjoy