The feedback from my SHRM22 Annual Conference concurrent session tells me participants were starving for real retention solutions, at a time when all U.S. companies were facing 11 million open jobs and 3.5% unemployment.
Jim Clifton is CEO of Gallup one of his book’s contains a most interesting subtitle that uses the phrase, “team leaders.” Jim’s use here is very purposeful, as he makes clear in the book, and from work we’ve done, I can tell you organizations that leverage team leaders cut turnover by greater than 30%.
It seems trite to say that supervisors who build trust will improve retention…more than the traditionally-considered solutions like pay, benefits, onboarding, training, time off, work from home, and everything else. It sounds too simple, too intangible, but it’s true.
The Predictive Index asked over 200 CEOs “Do you believe “The Great Resignation” is over?” Their responses were shocking and conflicted mightily with the conclusions of many respected economists.
PBS News released a new study last week and it reads like the same-old talk. Quit reasons include “young-people” rhetoric, reduction in hours or benefits, options to work remotely or for more flexible hours, relocation, lost their jobs, and of course the old standard, “better opportunity”. Here is a wake-up call regarding the real reasons employees are leaving.
How would your CEO rate employee turnover as a priority? “Very important” is easy to say…and easy to see. But the question is precisely how much does employee turnover impact every single aspect of our businesses? The answer to this question is critical because each organization determines how committed it is to cutting turnover.
The phrase “Quiet Quitters” was introduced by Sona Movsesian, Conan O’Brien’s assistant, who is proud of her job neglect and believes that most people are mediocre. Maybe she’s right, but we believe focusing on retention is a good way to overcome lamenting about the Quiet Quitters to focus on the opportunity to keep your best workers.
Double PTO to build a retention firewall that can’t be matched to keep your must-have 2%-ers. How much productivity time would you lose? Not much. What’s the dollar cost of losing and replacing one of your most important contributors? Start the count at half a million dollars and go up.
Human Resources work is now, more than ever, in the bullseye of turnover, engagement, retention, and recruiting challenges that are being exacerbated by The Great Resignation with no end in sight. I know you accept this challenge, but do you have a plan for improving retention that you know you can count on to work today, tomorrow, and with whatever the future holds?
If improving engagement and retention is top of your priority list, consider changing the idea that every Employee/Manager meeting should be about performance. Think about it. What if we changed the direction of just one meeting?