“The Great Resignation” Are You Ready?
There has been much media attention about “the Great Resignation” that is predicted to hit Australia in March 2022 and with an already competitive market for talent there is never a more important time than to focus on retaining your staff.
There is an increase in the number of LinkedIn posts from people leaving jobs and starting new roles. Talent is being headhunted on a daily basis to entice them to new roles and organisations, typically for a higher salary and benefits which are not on offer at their current employer.
What can you do to protect your business and talent from leaving?
When was the last time you had a conversation with your staff about their career goals and how the organisation can support them to achieve these goals?
Do you have career pathways for your staff? If they aren’t aware of the career pathway options available to them, they may seek these options elsewhere.
Ensure your staff feel valued. Recognise and reward your staff. Often we only share constructive feedback and not the positive feedback that should be celebrated, like a staff receiving positive feedback from a customer, achieving a project deadline, going above and beyond to help a colleague or customer etc.
Speak or survey your staff to gauge their commitment to the organisation and if there any reasons they may consider leaving. Once they resign there is usually little you can do to change their decision – counteroffers often result in the employee resigning again in 3-6 months.
Review your salaries against the market – are you paying above award rates? If not, you should research what other organisations are paying and consider salary increases to retain your talent.
When was the last time you reviewed your company benefits? Have you sought staff feedback on the benefits that are meaningful for them and not ones that you think will attract and retain talent.
Working from home can leave staff feeling disconnected from the organisation and open to other more enticing options. Connect with your team on a regular basis e.g. daily stand up meetings, virtual social events etc.
Where possible, implement a hybrid working model, where staff have a balance of connection in the office and flexibility.
Gone are the days where an employee should be happy to have a job, they have choice and if you don’t look after your staff then they will join the “Great Resignation”. Hoping that it won’t impact your workplace/industry could result in you not having enough staff to achieve your business goals and having to pay well above market rates to secure new talent and then take time to train them in your processes.
If you are in need of HR expertise to help you navigate this challenging time in attracting and retaining talent, book a Free Discovery call and we can discuss how we can assist you.
