More than 37% of UK workers are hoping to leave their job this year (Bob Philpin, Realising Potential, 2015). How will you make sure your best people are not part of that group?
Over the last fifteen years or so, there’s been a gradual shift from ‘security and money’ to ‘engagement and meaning’ being the most important factors for workforce retention.
Even though 60% of people see compensation as an important factor in job satisfaction, we can’t just throw money at the problem. Our approach needs to be more sophisticated and diverse. With four different generations currently making up our workforce, we can no longer rely on traditional methods of attracting and retaining talent.
Innovative approaches to attracting and managing talent require out of the box thinking. We looked at how a handful of organisations who have achieved “Outstanding Workplace Satisfaction” are managing their 21st century talent.
Hiring values driven people (Zappos)
Bringing the right people on board is the first step in creating a talent strategy that works long-term, and so our first encounters with candidates are crucial in managing the psychological contract.
Zappos is a prime example of a company that signals its culture early on to potential employees, but its practice goes beyond headline strategies such as offering a lump sum of money to new hires for “quitting after taking the first week of training” (it’s a standing offer until the end of the fourth week of training). “This ensures people are there for more than a pay check. Less than 1% take the offer”. (Ryan Jenkins, Business 2 Community, 2014)
Tony Hsieh, Zappos CEO, has been focusing on creating a culture of transparency where coaching, autonomy and development play a central part.
Driving engagement through personal conversations and transparency (Spiceworks)
While there are universal factors that will help retain most talent, in order to create an environment that is conducive to engagement, organisational leaders need to spend the time getting to know their direct reports. However, it’s easy for managers and leaders to leave talent management to one side, as they focus on more immediate business needs like hitting sales targets.
Some organisational leaders do make engagement part of their work routines. Scott Abel, co-founder and Chief Strategic Officer for Spiceworks, organises weekly “Slices with Scott” where he orders pizzas with his team and invites all sorts of questions: personal, professional and related to the company’s state of affairs. He also holds the meetings with his venture capitalists and takes phone calls with his door completely open.
Spiceworks was recently named one of the best companies to work for by Glassdoor’s employee choice awards (http://www.glassdoor.com/Best-Small-and-Medium-Companies-to-Work-For-LST_KQ0,43.htm)
Trusting employees to get the job done (eBay)
As flexibility at work is becoming easier to obtain through the use of technology, it’s become a factor that is increasing in importance amongst employees. Rupert Keeley from PayPal EMEA cites employee mobility and flexibility as “essential in driving employee retention and engagement in today’s ever-changing business environment”. (http://blog.ebay.com/ebay-inc-a-great-place-to-work-in-europe)
Employee survey at eBay have shown high scores in “camaraderie”, employee pride in their role and their organisation, team spirit as well as impact on the environment and society.
Not surprisingly eBay has been ranked the 12th best organisation to work for in Europe in 2013.
Personalisation is key
“There is no single magic ingredient that makes a workplace great; it is a finely balanced combination of leadership, management, people practices and environment” said Karen Bowes, VP International HR for Capital One Europe.
One size doesn’t fit all and although we can offer compensation and benefits to the whole workforce, there are ways of giving each individual what they need, be it more free time, mentoring opportunities, voluntary days, career progression, etc. We need to take into account both the compensation and benefits strategies according to factors such as generation as well as the traditional job requirements, and then further personalise how we retain each individual.
In a world where social media and heightened connectivity allow people to compare their current workplace with their ideal one, it pays off to invest the time, energy and resources in understanding what makes our workforce tick.
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If you would like to find out more about the factors affecting Engagement and Retention in the 21st Century, check out Emma Pearson’s presentation: https://prezi.com/8uxazzhq3wq-/copy-of-talent-retention-engagement-in-tough-times/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy
