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Employee attraction and retention have become major obstacles for most employers more so now than ever before. In fact, 67% of employers today consider attraction and retention somewhat of a challenge, according to Zywave’s 2021 Human Resources Benchmarking Overview. Most companies, regardless of industry are experiencing a change in candidate and employee behavior and expectations. These changes in employee/candidate expectations and behavior are rapidly driving necessary change in recruiting and retention strategies. To be competitive in the current market employers must adapt to these changing behaviors and expectations.
Causes of Recruiting and Retention Difficulties
The past 2 years of a global pandemic have rapidly and significantly impacted how we interact within our world. These changes have impacted our economy, social interactions, political landscape, healthcare system, etc. One of the most dramatic changes brought on by the pandemic has occurred between in our interaction and expectations between our personal and professional lives. This has created a change in the psychological contract aka mutual beliefs, perceptions, and informal obligations between an employee and employer.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been the catalyst that created a shift in thinking about what matters most in our lives. It has created a new set of priorities for people and revolutionized the idea that our personal and professional lives must be separate from one another and that they should have as little impact as possible on one another. Employees and prospective employees are now becoming less concerned with job stability and more likely to initiate job/career changes due to opportunities for better pay, benefits, and flexibility.
These expectations, coupled with external factors, have led to supply and demand issues within the labor market and created both a ‘Talent War’ and ‘The Great Resignation’. During the pandemic there was an increase in the unemployment rate and jobs available coupled with low levels of participation in the workforce. This formula created an environment that provided employees the power and motivation to change employers, jobs, and careers. Historically, employers were the entities with the most amount of power; this has since shifted to employees and prospective staff. Employees are now resigning at record rates due to the surplus of available job and ability to choose how, when, and where and why they want to work. Experts believe that supply and demand for workers will eventually come back into balance but that many of the changes in how companies recruit and hire talent will remain long after the pandemic subsides.
Strategies
Develop an Employee Value Proposition (EVP)
It is essential that employers strategically develop an Employee Value Proposition (EVP) that is unique to their company. “It encompasses the central reasons that people are proud and motivated to work there, such as the inspiring vision or distinctive culture. It is crucial to make sure your EVP is unique, relevant, and compelling. When integrated into all aspects of a business, a strong EVP will help retain top performers and attract the best external talent.”
*Flexibility in Work/Life Balance*
Work should enhance an employee’s quality of life; not decrease it. Work-life flexibility is about creating a culture where employees meet the demands of their personal lives while maintaining high levels of work performance. Companies that prioritize work/life balance statistically experience higher levels of productivity/performance and overall employee engagement.
Reflect on what arrangements are possible and realistic for your organization and consider the following:
- Re-vamp or consider providing enhancing PTO/Sick/Personal time
- Provide flexible working arrangements
- Remote work
- Flextime
- Condensed scheduling
- Job sharing
- For front line workers who can’t work remotely flexibility and predictability in scheduling is vital
Conduct Salary Benchmarking
“Salary benchmarking helps your organization to ensure that your internal pay rates remain competitive within your local pay markets. In today's competitive talent landscape, benchmarking allows you to assess how you're positioned relative to market, enabling you to make smart pricing decisions that enable you to attract and retain top talent. While salary benchmarking is a critical part of the annual compensation cycle, it is ultimately only as good as the data - and the process - through which you benchmark.”
Benefits
“Health benefits are always important and it’s no surprise that the Covid pandemic has placed them front and center. According to a recent employee benefits survey, when choosing between a high-paying job and a lower-paying job with quality health benefits, 88% of employees would consider the lower paying job.”
Consider adding or increasing the employer contribution the following benefits…
- Medical, dental, vision,
- HRA, FSA, HSA
- 401(k)
- Employee Assistance Program
- Fitness perks
- Discounts for products/services
- Health, legal, and financial counseling
- Leave to care for self and/or family members
- Allowances for home office technology
Reimagine Professional Development
Offering learning and development (L&D) programs can be a powerful investment in a company’s future success. It can encourage lateral and upward internal growth and allow your company to stay up to date with changing industry knowledge and trends. L&D also aids in succession planning.
- Provide tuition reimbursement or a learning allowance
- Encourage participation in professional organizations
- Provide opportunities for increases in duties and responsibilities
- Provide mentorship or leadership development programs
- Create internal career paths
Streamline Employee Application and Hiring Process
Optimize your job posting and simplify the application process by reducing the number of steps to apply for a job. “According to some studies, 60% of job candidates abandon their online applications because the process took too long or was too complex (some estimate the rate is even higher). For employers, this churn results in loss of top talent, reduced ROI on recruitment investments, and potentially bad reviews from would-be candidates.”
- Be innovative and incorporate the company’s mission, vision, values into the process
- Utilize a realistic recruiting technique in provide positives and negatives of the job
- Be actively engaged in company banding use of social media
- Personalize a candidate’s experience by telling a story/playing to the human experience
- Speed up the hiring process, many candidates have several offers to choose from
- Improve communication at every step in the process
Re-Vamp Employee Referral Programs
Employee referral programs help increase attachment to the organization and make employees feel as though they have a stake in the future of the business.
- Reduce hiring time & recruiting costs
- Increase employee retention rate
- Increase ease in recruiting for hard to fill roles
If you need assistance with implementing any of these strategies, please contact your Simco HR Account Executive.
Sources:
https://www.peoplekeep.com/blog/the-most-important-benefits-to-employees
https://www.lucidchart.com/blog/how-to-streamline-the-job-application-process
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