Why are all the good people leaving?

"We pay well, offer great benefits & have a fun culture”

This is something I hear often from companies..

It is true

Culture. Is. So. Very. Important. It can be said that the culture of a company is the heartbeat of that organization.

Problem is often how the leaders view the culture & how the employees view it are totally different.

We are seeing a shift in ideology among the workforce generations.

Millennial and Gen Z are now the largest groups in the workforce and they prefer culture over wage (when talking about their main priorities in a long term position). If your "well paid" employee isn't engaged or happy, you are in danger of losing them.

3/4 of today's "happily employed" workforce is open to a new career. Open to possibilities of better opportunities. Sometimes “better” is more time off, less direct reports, a different schedule, less responsibility, etc.

Owners, HR Directors & Managers, are you listening? Up to 75% of your staff would leave if a better opportunity were to come up.

How do we manage this?

Having leadership that is able to motivate & inspire helps. Listening to new innovative ideas, attaching the "why" or purpose to the work, clear company vision and a positive scorecard increases your chance of retaining your staff. But even then, approaching individual employees differently is a MUST.

There is "no one style fits all" approach, there is no easy path to success in this space. The magic pill doesn’t exist.

Some employees prefer public displays of recognition, why others would rather be celebrated and recognized privately. Others value a fancy job title or more duties. These things are only learned if the leaders are engaging with the employees consistently.

Not in the “1 on 1” time only, the misconception that checking in weekly with a person makes them feel valued needs to be smashed.

What do we do to not only attract top talent but also retain them?

There is no step by step formula. It can vary industry to industry. 1 quick test is to evaluate your systems & processes. If you are still doing things the way you were 3 years ago, it may be outdated. “Because we’ve always done it that way” is not a valid reason.

Change is good, constant & required.

Express Employment Professionals has many resources, workshops and information around these topics. Which can be valuable and insightful as you build your retention plan. The culture of the best organization's is only as good as that organization's greatest leader. It is our responsibility to adapt and overcome with the changing times. If this task is not done by you then there should be someone if not multiple people who are responsible for the heartbeat of the company. Insuring the "blood is flowing" to all of your members will in turn reach your customers, clients and associates. As your culture gets healthy so will the other measurable metrics. People want to be happy, healthy and enjoy work.

If you are interested in learning more about retention strategies and engagement tools feel free to email me at michael.thomas@expresspros.com