Despite increased reports of layoffs and threats of a recession, the war for talent is continuing and will shape the workplace of the future. There are 1.75 open positions for every job seeker in America today. Moreover, with an aging population and more workers thinking about retirement, the demand for both skilled and unskilled workers will be around for a while.
Stress among workers today is at an all-time high. Gallup found that 44 percent of workers experience “a lot of daily stress in the previous day.” For 34 percent of workers, their immediate manager is the single most stressful part of their day, according to a survey by the accounting and consulting firm Grant Thornton.
Workers today want more flexibility in where and when they work. More workers are leaving because of poor-quality managers and a lack of career development opportunities. A majority of workers in America today have lost trust in senior leaders and don’t feel their voice is heard at work.
A record number of are reported to be “quiet quitters” – people just doing the minimum of the job and nothing else, and only 21 percent of employees are engaged. The impact on productivity, customer satisfaction and employee retention for these “actively disengaged” workers is tremendous.
Rather than try to understand the root causes of employee attrition, many organizations are seeking quick fixes that inevitably fall short: pay increases, thank-you bonuses, or dining gift cards. Unfortunately, rather than being appreciated, many employees view these as transactional.
Therefore, these tokens have little impact on long-term retention and may remind employees that their real needs are not being met.
As a rule of thumb, the typical cost to replace employees who leave is 25 percent to 50 percent of their salaries. If your company has an average employee turnover of 35 percent, then a 10-point reduction in this turnover would produce savings of about $2 million a year (based on an average salary of $75,000/year). Employee retention matters and will continue to matter to business leaders and their boards.
Not working
“Work” for many is clearly not working. Too often, the war for talent is really the war on talent. But it doesn’t have to be this way. So how could the future of work look?
The future of work is a projection of how work, workers, and the workplace will evolve in the years ahead, and it is a topic that keeps many CEOs and board members up at night. It is more than “hybrid or working remotely,” leveraging technology, or embracing the gig economy.
The future of work considers who is doing the work, where, when, and how that work gets done. The Society for Human Resources Management believes that 85 percent of the jobs that will exist in 2030 haven’t been created yet.
It certainly has been an unprecedented time in the workplace since the start of the pandemic. One thing is for certain, this will continue, and business leaders (as well as their boards) will need to pay attention to the attitudes, needs and preferences of workers today if they are to survive and thrive.
Companies must put employees at the center and create a culture that engages, develops, and rewards this vital stakeholder. Leaders need to listen to their workers and create an environment that unleashes employees and empowers them to accomplish the extraordinary.
The results on the top (and bottom) lines will be enormous. But, so too will the risks and costs of ignoring.
Tim Glowa is a former Big 4 HR consultant, and human capital authority, & Non-executive Director, with a focus in talent management, strategy and ESG. Follow him @TimGlowa
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