Current State
Less than one-third of organizations describe their efforts to retain top talent as successful, according to Brandon Hall Group™ study, Retaining Your Top Talent. It’s not surprising, therefore, that less than four in ten employers (38%) say they have a strong understanding of what their employees want or expect from their employment.
Complexities
Because retention is ultimately an outcome of a variety of factors, not surprisingly what a company chooses to focus on can vary greatly. However, there is a consensus that the most important components are essentially the same.
Strategies Organizations Use to Understand What Employees Want from Employment
The strategies companies use to understand what employees want from their work have not fundamentally changed much, but over the past few years, there has been a shift in focus.
This shift is positive progress, but is further complicated by the rapid evolution of technology solutions that could have an even bigger impact on retention if leveraged the right way.
The progress being made in more frequent data gathering, more personalized tactics, and engaging directly with the most valued talent will reap enormous benefits over time.
Consequences
Organizations believe there are many areas to shore up in order to improve talent retention, ranging from career development to compensation, leadership, employee recognition, work/ life balance and more. Many of these areas are interrelated and should not be looked at individually. For example, managers and leaders are integral to career development, employee recognition, the success of hybrid work policies and creation of learning opportunities.
Critical Question
- How can employers improve their understanding of employees and what they value and want from their employment in order to increase talent retention?
Brandon Hall Group™ POV
Here are four high-level strategies to enable leaders to have a strong positive impact on talent retention:
Listen Continuously and Listen Well
Feedback from employees is imperative to understand their experiences, but their perspectives can shift frequently. Most employers operate in an environment that is volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. Therefore, relying on annual or periodic engagement surveys to understand the needs of employees means the company will always lag in its understanding of workforce trends and issues.
Our research shows that progressive organizations employ strategies of continuous listening, including frequent online surveys on specific topics, sentiment analysis, focus groups, employee resource groups and stay interviews. Technology is a great enabler for collecting different types of data and analyzing them to provide important insights, not just on the workforce as a whole but on specific employee groups or personas.
Listen Continuously and Listen Well
Feedback from employees is imperative to understand their experiences, but their perspectives can shift frequently. Most employers operate in an environment that is volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. Therefore, relying on annual or periodic engagement surveys to understand the needs of employees means the company will always lag in its understanding of workforce trends and issues.
Our research shows that progressive organizations employ strategies of continuous listening, including frequent online surveys on specific topics, sentiment analysis, focus groups, employee resource groups and stay interviews. Technology is a great enabler for collecting different types of data and analyzing them to provide important insights, not just on the workforce as a whole but on specific employee groups or personas.
View Talent Retention as an Outcome of Employee Experiences
Feedback from employees is imperative to understand their experiences, but their perspectives can shift frequently. Most employers operate in an environment that is volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. Therefore, relying on annual or periodic engagement surveys to understand the needs of employees means the company will always lag in its understanding of workforce trends and issues.
Build Talent Strategies from What You Hear
Through these insights from employees — as well as other internal and external developments — employers are in a better position to proactively create value for employees in alignment with business needs. The goal is to be proactive whenever possible in understanding what the workforce needs to be successful and feel valued. A company’s ability to proactively engage different segments of the workforce determines its ability to retain talent.
Focus on Skills Development, Career Development and Growth
Particularly in the developing economically challenging environment, a focus on reassuring employees that there is a path for maintaining employability even as many fundamental aspects of work are changing is key. Employers must be clear on what skills the workforce will need moving forward. Companies must have a strategy for defining those skills quickly and iteratively. There must be a plan to act quickly to help employees learn those skills and continue to add value.
