6 Tips to Combat “The Great Resignation”
Chances are, you may have already felt the effects of “The Great Resignation”, either through employee turnover or struggling to hire new employees. Now more than ever, it is important to stay competitive in the current job market if you want to retain employees or grow your business. So, instead of viewing The Great Resignation as something to hide from, try to look at it as an opportunity by implementing our 6 tips below.
Tip #1: Staying Competitive
It’s a candidate driven market and recent grads are expecting higher salaries than ever before. The average salary for this year’s crop of recent graduates is projected to start around $50,000 and continue to increase throughout the next few months and years to come. Not to mention, the amount of job openings to the unemployed is nearly 2:1 with 11.5 million openings and 6 million unemployed people.
So, how do you stay in the game? One of the best pieces of advice we could give to any hiring manager is to be adaptable and know your company’s selling points. We have all heard about the rising popularity and desire of remote work. Even recent grads rank remote flexibility as one of their highest deciding factors when it comes to comparing job offers. With that said, it is important to highlight your company’s perks. Whether your business has a strong mission statement, remote flexibility, awesome benefits, or a great work life balance, it is crucial to promote your best assets to every candidate that comes across your table.
Tip #2: Employee Check-Ins and Feedback
The current job market has brought a lot of attention to the reasoning behind why there is such a high turnover rate in 2022. A good way to combat this is to simply check in with your employees. It can be as easy as asking “How are you doing?” or asking their opinion on a particular topic. This can help to open a conversation and give insight into where an employee’s head is at in relation to their position and your company. You may even be able to gauge whether they are in it for the long haul or just passing through.
You might be wondering,what have we heard from some of our own current employees and placements? The opportunity for growth is huge with recent graduates. Everyone seems to want a long-term fit where they can learn, grow, and eventually move upwards. Recent hires and current employees like to know the expectations their managers have for them.Communication is hugely important across all aspects of a business and allows more transparency across the office. Of course, we can’t see the future and we can’t read minds, but clear communication on the future of the company and potential growth opportunities for current employees can help reduce turnover.
Tip #3: Recognition
While the popular adage of providing timely, regular, and specific feedback is certainly helpful, it is no longer enough when it comes to recognizing your employees. Maybe, in previous years (pre-pandemic) this could fly, but not anymore! There are a few different avenues to take when recognizing employees. It could be as easy as acknowledging birthdays, providing lunches, or celebrating work anniversaries.It is also more important now to recognize your employees when they have small successes in addition to their larger ones. Whether they are showing initiative, providing high-quality work, raising team morale, or just proving to be a great asset to the team, you need to speak up and let them know!Recognition in general has a significant impact on employee retention and will reduce voluntary turnover. It was found that companies that scored in the top 20 percent for building a‘recognition-rich culture’ actually had 31 percent lower voluntary turnover rates. This just goes to show how appreciating and recognizing employees can have an overwhelmingly positive impact. The more valued an employee feels in the workplace, the more fulfilled they will be overall. This can lead to employees being more engaged, driven,and eager to succeed at work.
Tip #4: Highlighting Growth Opportunities
As we all know, grow this huge. Recent graduates prioritize the “room for growth” during their jobsearch over most other factors. Think about it, why would a recent grad at the ripe age of 22 already want to be stagnant in the workplace from the get-go? Ithas been shown that younger employees across generations job hop the most frequently. The average tenure tends to decrease as you go down in age. For example, 25 to 34 years olds spend an average of 2.8 years in a position, while 18 to 24 years olds average a few months up to 1.3years in the same position.Highlighting growth opportunities in your company up front might be the light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to increasing employee tenure.
Tip #5: Pay Expectations and Current Salary Trends
There is an increased pressure to raise employee wages in today’s job market. It can also be a challenge to keep up with the current and ever changing market trends. It was shown that 40% of workers said they left their job for a company that offered them a raise of 10% or greater, with 13% of that same group receiving a salary increase of 20% or more. So, what can you do as a company to stay competitive? The Indeed Salary Tool offers great insight into the average salaries across professions. You’ll be able gauge where you stand in relation to similar businesses and whether or not you are a competitive player. Of course, along with being knowledgeable about the market, you should be communicating with your employees about potential raises or salary bumps in the future if they choose to stay at your company. This all ties back to the importance of clear communication, check-ins, and employee recognition.
Tip #6: Be Adaptable
It is a battle out therefor top talent. To stay competitive in the current market, employers need to understand the importance of being flexible. A crucial piece of advice to keep in mind would be to try and put yourself in the shoes of the job seeker. What do you think they would want in a company and be willing to accept? Well, these job seekers have been remotely working for two years now and they want it all!They want remote flexibility, higher pay, a work-life balance, and a position that gives them purpose. The more flexible you can be, the greater candidate pool you will have when hiring and more likely you will be to retain your current employees.
Being adaptable is ensuring that you are not only just keeping up but moving quickly. Jobseekers have choices! They have options! There are more open positions than job seekers right now, so you need to solidify a smooth and efficient interviewing experience. Reevaluating your turnaround times will help keep the candidate pool warm and hopefully keep candidates from receiving any offers in between interviews. If your company is serious about hiring and wants to stay competitive, you must be ready to be decisive and take the bull by the horns.
Call Us To Help!
The Great Resignation has been a wakeup for everyone. In order to recruit and retain top talent,employers must be willing to consider the job seeker’s desires and long-term goals. Being adaptable when considering new policies that prevent employee burnout, while allowing employees to grow in their careers, will create a workplace environment where people want to stay. If your company is struggling to hire, ROCS is here to lend a helping hand!
