How do HR executives help their organizations win the fight to attract (or retain) the best talent?
The labor market is at a tipping point, with programmers and engineers having their pick of jobs and an astonishing number of employees refusing to return to offices after COVID-19. In fact, several boomers are retiring even earlier than decided.
Studies reveal that nearly 40% of employees worldwide are considering handing in their notices. Moreover, in November 2021 alone, the quit levels surged to a record high – about 4.5 million.
Winning in today’s talent battle could take more than aggressive hiring. Now is the right time to pull back and think about what else companies must do to arm their talent acquisition unit with the best possible narrative to tell.
Here are 4 ways organizations – from the C-suite to HR – can bolster their ability to rope in that elite talent, particularly for those hard-to-fill positions and with younger-generation employees.
Keeping A Pulse on Salary Growth
A smaller employee cluster, along with a robust worker demand, is driving salary growth. Job roles that saw the strongest demand during COVID-19 are experiencing the highest income surges.
In today’s talent war, recruiters must ensure they are offering competitive wages, which align with a growing economy. Crucial steps include examining benefits and income growth plans, conducting routine industry benchmarking, and doing enterprise-wide audits to discover and address pay inequities.
Listening to Employees’ Needs
Employee engagement has been a crucial part of boardroom discussions for quite a while. The global health event has permanently changed people’s work preferences and the benefits they find the most important.
Employers need to see how well they accommodate multiple life phases and health issues of a diverse workforce from a fresh lens. An obvious starting point would be considering parental leave policies and checking if they apply equitably to men and women, adoptive parents, and same-gender couples.
Other ways hiring managers should support different family cohorts can be eldercare benefits, fertility treatments, or services for specially-abled kids.
Providing Flexible Work Choices
Job applicants specialize in a particular domain rather than applying for mainstream roles via multiple online courses at their disposal. Most of these candidates hold specific educational qualifications, which might have made getting hired challenging, particularly in pre-COVID times. However, today, companies keep an open mind during recruiting processes and offer a level playing field to aspirants with unorthodox skills.
Besides, the flexibility of onboarding goes past the candidate’s skill set. It can also incorporate temporary or part-time work options, completely remote or hybrid working, and flexible working hours.
Companies providing such flexibility to their talent pools become a magnet for people to join. With the job seekers at the helm and in the position to make demands, employers need to be all ears.
Betting on Professional Training
Around 700,000 Americans have left the workforce due to skills discrepancies. Along with record pandemic-induced disruption, upskilling and reskilling the workforce is necessary.
As a starter, managers must analyze how an employee’s job might have evolved during COVID-19. Then, they should invest in continuous employee training to enhance learning and fill the expertise loopholes.
Perhaps employees are receiving training in robotics or artificial intelligence (AI) in respective fields, such as construction. Or the firm has introduced a rotational policy enabling employees to learn about its other departments. HR executives today have an excellent opportunity to leverage the best of corporate resources to equip employees with the technologies, skills, and mindsets to thrive.
The Winning Key: Rethinking Talent Acquisition and Retention
The world is amidst a new era for hiring talent. For companies thinking to onboard and retain the best people was challenging before COVID-19, various news reports reveal that this war will intensify considerably going forward.
Hiring managers globally are stepping into the most turbulent turnover environment in memory. Those who perceive the turbulence as an opportunity – playing offense, not the defense – will emerge as the winners. To grab the opportunity, organizations must take a step back, listen, learn, and make the tweaks employees want.
By understanding the reasons behind their resigning and acting mindfully, companies might succeed in turning the “Great Attrition” into the “Great Attraction.”
