Is the ongoing talent shortage shaking up your business? More than 10 million jobs are open in the U.S., which is almost triple the amount from a decade ago. Due to these challenges, knowing how to attract top talent to your company is more important than ever
For employers, this is creating a chaotic environment for retention and recruitment. Today’s workforce includes 41% of employees who are considering changing jobs and 36% who are willing to quit before having another job lined up.
With these statistics in mind, it’s time to reevaluate what you’re doing to attract, engage, and retain top talent. Continue attracting top talent during the talent shortage with these employee engagement strategies.
Promote Emotionally Intelligent Leaders with Employee Engagement Strategies
The old saying that “people leave bad bosses, not bad jobs” still holds true. A study by the Society for Human Resource Management found that 84% of U.S. workers blame bad managers for making them hate their jobs, not the actual companies they work for.
What exactly is a bad manager? Often it’s someone with low emotional intelligence. They don’t understand how to interact with people skillfully and motivate them to succeed. Bad managers tend to micromanage, fail to prepare for projects, exhibit poor communication, pass the blame, and burn their employees out.
Good managers show their employees they value them. They provide the resources and information they need to succeed. Contrary to popular belief, their emotional intelligence isn’t inborn, and most good managers aren’t necessarily “natural leaders.” Leadership is a learned behavior that can be practiced and honed for more effective leadership within companies.
It’s essential to identify, educate, and promote the people within your organization who are willing to expand their emotional intelligence and leadership skills. Doing so creates a new generation of leaders who will help retain a strong, enthusiastic workforce over the long term.
Reevaluate Pay, Benefits, and Perks
Ensure your total compensation package, including pay and benefits, still stacks up to the competition. Don’t just consider your direct competitors within your specific industry. Your potential pool of applicants is probably evaluating a much wider scope of employers.
Perks like bonuses, PTO, and health insurance are no longer enough to attract top talent. New research shows top performers are tired of hearing about the same old benefits from potential employers. Attracting top talent often involves offering 125% to 170% more incentives than you would typically offer.
With such a competitive hiring field, superstar performers are looking for schedule flexibility, 100% working from home, and financial help paying off their student loans. A government program like the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act might help your company pay for some types of employee aid, tax-free.
Manage Growth Thoughtfully to Promote Employee Engagement
Paradoxically, even during these tough economic times, many businesses are still experiencing moderate to rapid growth. Periods of growth put pressure on your resources, especially your human resources. Your people may have trouble coping and finally give up, looking for work elsewhere.
Growth further intensifies the need to hire and retain your best talent. If you lose your top performers, how will you fulfill customer orders? Who will represent your company in the marketplace? How will you maintain customer satisfaction?
Take a thoughtful approach to attracting top talent during times of rapid growth and take steps to keep your current employees fully engaged. Invest in talent development and succession planning that ensures your top performers can see a clear vision of their future with the company no matter how fast you grow. Don’t become a victim of your own success and lose your best people!
Address Cultural Concerns ASAP
Today’s best employers have cultures that embrace a feeling of belonging, flexibility, and growth. There’s a sense of diversity and inclusivity that makes it a positive place to work. If this doesn’t sound like your company culture, it’s time to take action.
Investigate the sources of negativity and frustration within your staff. Determine whether your company’s leadership styles are contributing to the problem. What are you hearing from your exit interviews? What kind of feedback are you seeing on sites like Glassdoor and Indeed?
Cultural problems are common whether companies have low or high turnover. In companies with low turnover, cultural challenges arise from entrenched loyalties and old-fashioned thinking. In companies with high turnover, there can be misunderstandings due to the rapid pace of hiring and other business challenges.
Changing your culture isn’t easy, but it’s one of the best ways to survive a talent shortage. A business coach can help your company get to the root of its cultural issues and resolve them.
Offer Leadership Development, Not Just Training
Retaining your top employees and recruiting top talent takes careful strategic planning. Experts say for meaningful and lasting change, companies should provide leadership development programs as opposed to simple training programs.
Leadership Resources provides the kind of leadership development programs it takes to attract and retain excellent employees. To learn more, please take a look at our ebook about hiring top talent and finding valuable leaders within the ranks of your organization.
