Let’s face it…the economic downturn of 2009 shook the foundations of many organizations, forcing companies to implement some pretty drastic cost-cutting measures in order to survive. These decisions, as necessary as they were, by default had an adverse impact on employees’ workloads, their ability to manage stress and overall employee engagement. Now, at a time when we’re seeing the signs of economic bounce-back, a recent Towers Watson survey finds that a vast majority of companies worldwide are having difficulty attracting and retaining key, skilled employees to help them not only recover, but flourish. (Towers Watson, October 10, 2011)
Also confirming this trend, Pricewaterhouse Cooper’s 15thAnnual Global CEO Survey, U.S. CEOs report an increase in spending on talent acquisition and focusing on internal promotion to fill the a shortage of critical skills.
Talent Acquisition
Thoughtful organizations and leaders build strategy around acquiring talent to meet both current and future business needs. Before adding staff or simply filling a vacant position, it is important to have clear sense of the “gaps” as they relate to the skill sets needed to meet current and future performance requirements. Otherwise, you are simply adding people that may or may not contribute to the organization’s success.
Having a clear sense of the strengths, weaknesses and opportunities within teams/work groups allows managers to make a more calculated decision about their next hire. For example, if your market and customers are demanding a more sophisticated product or service, you may need to adjust your recruitment and sourcing strategy to hire a more specific, technical skill set. Human Resources can assist business leaders with workforce planning to assess the supply, demand and gaps existing between currently available and needed skill sets required to deliver on the business plan.
Once a gap analysis has been conducted and managers have a good sense of their staffing needs including the availability of talent, they are in a position to execute on a plan to acquire the needed skills and talent. Often organizations will use more than one method (e.g. recruiting, sourcing, training & development).
Whether acquiring outside talent or developing talent from within the organization, ideally, managers should be building a network or “hot file” of candidates to draw from when the need arises. Recruiting and sourcing can certainly be outsourced to staffing & recruitment agencies, allowing businesses to focus more time on core competencies. With that said, good managers assume accountability for actively growing and developing their own people – regardless of whether they use outside services to recruit or source candidates.
Creating Your Employment Brand
Going to market for talent is not largely different than going to market with your products or services. Each organization has a unique workplace culture—this is the set of values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors shared by employees. It’s the way people interact with each other, the way they go about work and the practices of the work environment. Building a solid, positive organizational culture is critical to gaining competitive edge and reaping the benefits of loyal employees, which in turn provides increased profitability.
The first step in creating or changing culture is to define it—identify what makes your company unique. An employment brand is an internalized sum of images and impressions your company makes on an individual. Everything your organization says or does sends a message. Hopefully, your brand creates a clear and compelling image that makes people want to join, or continuing working, for you.
- Evaluate your current culture and value proposition…take an honest look!
- Are there discrepancies between what you promise and what you actually deliver?
- Look at your competition and identify your advantages (external).
- List and take stock in what you offer as an employer (internal).
- What are your unwavering “gotta-have” values?
Create your brand statement and story about what it’s like to work at your organization, incorporating the strategic objectives relating to your product or service and your employees’ viewpoints regarding what it’s like to work there – the so-called “elevator pitch” articulating your unique employment value proposition.
For example, Regence Blue Cross advertises in their job postings – “Innovators & Advocates for Change”; “A place where employees are encouraged to speak up and share innovative ideas.”
Retaining Talent
So once you hire talent – how do you keep it? We know that engaged employees are more productive and less likely to look elsewhere to meet their employment needs. Watson Wyatt’s 2006/2007 WorkUSA survey of more than 12,000 U.S. workers across all job levels and in all major sectors found an organization’s financial performance strongly related to employee engagement. The same survey in 2008/2009 also indicated that companies with engaged employees have lower turnover risk, are more likely to attract top talent and yield greater financial returns to shareholders.
The first, most important motivator in creating engagement is the work itself; followed by the need for work to be challenging and interesting as well as valued and recognized by the organization. According to Human Capital Institute, 83% of talent look for opportunities to develop new knowledge or skills, and 84% enjoy challenging work that will allow them to learn new skills.
An important theme in intrinsic motivation also is the desire for autonomy—making decisions independently, and being trusted to do so! Feeling competent also means access to training, when needed, so that employees can obtain the knowledge/skill needed to gain mastery.
Career development also plays into employee engagement – communicate the potential career paths so employees can know (and strive toward) “what’s next”if they want it.
Recognition & Reward
How do you know that increasing your employer 401(k) match, holding ice cream socials at lunch or donating to a local charity is going to motivate your top performers? Consider implementing an overall satisfaction survey, or one specifically focused on rewards & recognition. General surveys might uncover hot spots related to job fulfillment, management training issues, and loyalty to company; or if you want to be more targeted about pay/benefits/rewards, you may want to craft a more specific survey around a particular area.
Gleaning information from exit or “stay” interviews may also help assess what needs fixing in your organization. If you’re conducting an exit interview, the employee is already “gone” (but you can still ask them why they chose to pick up the phone/answer the LinkedIn request from that recruiter/competitor!) Stay interviews allow you to personally survey current employees to help diagnose problems before they happen.
Most importantly, relationships between supervisors and employees have a significant impact on retention. People generally leave managers, not companies. Supervisors should be trained on performance management and communication techniques in order to deliver frequent and meaningful recognition and feedback, as well as understand what motivates each of their employees. Doing the “basics” such as seeking and using input from employees and consistently acknowledging and recognizing employees for their contributions, goes a long way in creating a motivated and productive workplace.
The Bottom Line
Annual research continues to point to the fact that employee engagement has a significant effect on retention, productivity and ultimately, financial performance. As business owners and leaders, our success is dependent on delivering results through our people. The first step is acquiring the needed talent. To accomplish this, you must ensure your talent strategies are aligned with the current and future needs of the business, and then train your managers to use your brand and resources to attract and hire the right people.
Once you’ve hired & developed talent, you need to keep it! According to a review of human resources practices at 50 large U.S. companies by Watson Wyatt Worldwide, companies that focus on the details of hiring and job orientation show greater employee engagement and financial performance. Generally, employees start out with a high level of engagement, which often decreases through their employment. Take the time to understand what motivates your employees and what separates your workplace from your competition. And then create a work environment where people feel included, challenged and are consistently recognized for their contributions.
For more information on human resource consulting or employer programs, contact Xenium HR at 503-612-1555 or visit www.xeniumhr.com. The staff at Xenium HR contributed to this article. It is intended as information only and is not a substitute for legal advice. Xenium HR is a professional employer organization specializing in strategic HR partnership with small and mid-sized businesses in Portland, Oregon.