By Allison ebner
A recent article from Workday took me by surprise with the title above. The contents of the article suggest that the hiring slowdown may be leveling off. That fact, combined with stagnant internal mobility, has employees feeling a little restless and possibly seeking opportunities outside of their current organization or practicing some ‘quiet quitting’. So how should employers respond in an already volatile hiring market? The answer: Focus on retaining and upskilling your current employees.
Double down on the top three ways to build a high-performing workforce.
Conduct an audit of your people leader competencies
The managers and supervisors in your organization set the tone for your culture and worker productivity. Are they demonstrating the leadership competencies that will help you keep your talent working at their highest capacity? Can they balance empathy with accountability, and do they have the skills to conduct courageous conversations with your employees? It’s critical that your leaders have the ability to build trust, inspire innovation and empower a sense of collaboration and belonging across the organization. This takes work, practice and continual guidance. A blend of training and coaching is the most effective way for HR professionals to support their leaders and hold them accountable for retaining staff.
Refresh your stay interview process
Want to know why your top performers stick around? Ask them! Making sure that you’re conducting regular stay interviews should be an additional part of your broader performance management process. Regular 1:1’s with their leaders, in addition to some ‘stay’ conversations with HR, can provide you with fantastic engagement opportunities to spot potential issues in advance of them resulting in the loss of a high-performing employee or a missed opportunity to offer your top performers the chance to take on a new project or mentorship.
Revamp internal communication strategies
Communicating frequently, with detail, is the best way to ensure that everyone working in your organization has clarity around the goals and objectives of the team. Each employee needs to know exactly what is expected of them in their job, and they need regular feedback to let them know how they are doing. It’s also critical to have your C level leaders relay information on how the organization is performing (good and bad!), and the ways that their staff help support the mission, vision and values both internally and externally. Transparent communication is a big KEY to retaining your best talent. Your retention efforts should be a big part of your overall recruitment plan for the foreseeable future. Need support in building out your plan? Give us a call – Our team can help!
Allison