According to CNBC, America experienced a wave of people quitting their jobs in 2021 and some of this has to do with mistakes companies are making with retention. Amtec has taken a closer look. Data from Visier indicates at least one in four people quit their jobs last year. That includes a record-breaking 4.3 million people who quit their jobs in August alone. Waves of resignations do happen in cycles but this one is tsunami-sized from the pandemic tampering with the economy. At the rate companies are losing employees, the risks are adding up and employers need to find better ways to attract talent and make their employees want to stay in the company.

What’s Different About this Resignation Wave

The social effects of the coronavirus have given people new perspectives, and they have been reevaluating their work, their lifestyle, and the way they are treated by their employees after the pandemic. The concerns of work-life balance are amplified in a new way, causing companies to struggle with keeping employees and it’s affecting business.

One major distinction about the increasing numbers of employees quitting their jobs is that while there are always young workers that job hop due to relocation or other situations from being less rooted, the biggest change in demographics of those quitting is a large number of well established, mid-career workers with 10 years or more on the job. These departures result in greater chaos and disruption. Maintaining a high-performing team in the workplace is now being impacted by the decision of loyalty being measured by a different yardstick.  

Backfilling key positions previously held by tenured workers can take longer than what an operation plan can afford. This means the pressure is on for recruiters to find quality candidates in a competitive market who also will fit in well with the company. The reality is many companies do not have the luxury of time to spend looking for perfect employees, and if they are going it alone with their recruitment efforts they may take on hiring risk by reducing the number of interviews or background checks in the hope they are lucky with their new hires.  

How to Retain Workers and Attract Talent

As much as we want employees to be over the moon, honored, and dedicated to working for us, this year is a time for addressing the challenge of employee work-life concerns. We need them to know how important they are to the success of the company. As employers, we need to make our employees feel respected and appreciated for all the work they do. Here are a few things to help ensure your best workers go the distance with you.

Recognize Hard Work and Achievements

There are several ways to recognize success, whether it is verbal acknowledgment or a compensation bonus or promotion, it will go far in building that loyalty with any given employee. Be sure to recognize success both one-on-one as well in front of their coworkers; each having its own special impact.

Provide Competitive Salaries and Benefits

Smart work and hard work is deserving of a compensation review. Go into this aware of the industry rate versus your company’s current wages. Acknowledge inflation in the economy and factor this into the review so your employee knows you care about changes in their living expenses. Importantly, ask them how their financial situation has been impacted. Sometimes what is needed is not an increase in pay, but flexibility in work hours or work location to reduce the necessity of child daycare expenses or to include one or more work-from-home days to save money on transportation. Any benefits beyond wages your company has to offer can be the tipping point in your favor for continuing to be their most prosperous work opportunity.

Create a Supportive Work Environment

If there is any negativity affecting the success of your company, then make a change. When negativity is allowed to continue on unchecked, it festers and creates moments of doubt within the team as to whether it really is a team. Work on building an inclusive and supportive work environment. Invite contributory ideas, champion their strengths, and assign responsibilities based on how team members work best together. Incorporate a value of “positive impact” for a supportive work environment when making hiring and team decisions.

Help Your Team Develop Their Skills

As individuals, they want to improve and grow their skills so they can continue to contribute. Create a skill-building program and provide mentoring opportunities so they can develop the skills they will need to expand with your company. It can be as simple as paying for the very affordable professional lessons offered online of relevant interest. More meaningful is to offer mentorship within your organization. This not only provides the obvious skill-building benefit to the junior team member, it also provides the mentor ability to contribute in a new way and feel valued for their experience.

Attract and Hire Talent

For hiring new team members, there are time-saving tools to help you recruit the best possible talent for your team. Not every company can use Amtec for recruiting the best talent for every position. Establishing your own rock-solid hiring process is one of the best ways to make a change in your company’s work environment.

Use Behavioral Interview Questions

Take advantage of this free tool! Try Amtec’s Behavior Interview Questions Generator which will help you develop specific and insightful questions to ask your candidates. These types of questions allow you to gain more information on a person’s past work experience and personality to get a better idea of how well they will fit in with your company and current employees.

Be Open to Candidates with Transferable Skill Sets

Your pool of potential hires expands greatly if you open your heart up to talented and hard workers that may need a bit more training that specifies the work they will be providing your company. Similar experience may not be as important in some cases as someone’s thinking skills or performance. They may even be able to bring in new ideas or expertise to share with other 

Understand

Dig in, person by person, to understand what’s driving their decision to change their job. Create opportunities relevant to what they need to feel your company is the right match for their desire for meaningful work, and to feel their work-life needs are supported.