Guest Blogger Alana Feigenbaum is a Sr. Organizational Development Consultant with GamePlan Leader, LCC. Alana has decades of experience working with organizations both internally and externally helping to analyze organizational practices, design development solutions, and implementing successful programs.
At this point many of you have already heard the latest employee retention buzzwords: Turnover Tsunami, The Great Resignation, The Great Reshuffling. Your best people are being wooed and some statistics point to nearly 55% of Americans searching for new jobs in the next year. Your company will not be immune to this. Why are these people looking? What can you do retain your best talent?
I’m from Michigan, and I grew up swimming in the Great Lakes. For those of you unfamiliar with the power of a body of water like Lake Michigan, it can have the high surf and surprise waves of an ocean. As kid, what I was most worried about was this mysterious undertow my parents would warn me of. I can’t see it coming, and if I do, I need to swim parallel to shore. What?? If I’m drowning, don’t I want to get to shore as quickly as possible?
Many talent development teams moving into 2022 are going to be faced with the desire to move as quickly as possible to shore. They’ll be victims of the Talent Undertow, and will try to outswim it by outhiring it. But you can’t outswim this one. You need to feel the pull, find the current, and then find your opening.
How does one navigate through this sort of environment, then? It starts with looking at the team you have. This group has been with you through the ups and downs of COVID. They held on through all the uncertainty and now are trying to decide if they stay with you, or not. When you look at your team, consider how burned out many of them have become, and reasons why. According to a survey by Human Resource Executive more than 4 in 10 employees say they are burned out. Does this describe your organization? How do you know if it does or doesn’t? Here are some ways you can get ahead of attrition in 2022:
#1 Figure out your source of burn out.
Culture surveys are a really important tool right now for talent teams. Quick pulse checks and larger-scale engagement surveys will provide key insights to the level of burnout your team is feeling.
#2 Get organized on your hiring practices.
If you’ve been disorganized and disjointed on what level a person should be in an organization, and what the compensation ought to be at that level, you will come out of this with new hires being paid 10-20% more than your existing staff. The fact is, that existing staff knows more about your business and the way you do things than a new hire can, so why do companies often pay them so much more? Establishing career tracks for you team will empower you with the knowledge of where you actually have holes in your organization, and help you figure out who might be ready to step up.
#3 Bring up your current team.
Often managers do not see the potential that already exists on their own team, because they have a hard time seeing it in themselves. Elevating your managers to lead, rather than do, will create space for others to develop. Promoting from within has always been good for morale, and is your most financially beneficial option right now.
As you plan for 2022, consider how you will address burnout, how you will address talent development, and how you will do all of this within the budget management has set for you. Teams who plan their talent will win the Talent Undertow. Teams who are just trying to get to shore will be fixing problem hires and expensive exits for years to come.
GamePlan Leader, LLC provides a High Potential Analysis which includes interviewing your high potential talent, analyzing your programs versus industry trends, and examining your compensation plans. Reach out today to learn more about how we can help your organization. mheydt@gameplanleader.com