How to Attract and Retain Talent in a Fast-paced Industry
The Great Resignation is the phenomenon of workers quitting their jobs at an elevated rate after spring 2021 due to solid labor demand and low unemployment. During this period, retaining talent was absolutely fundamental.
Anthony Klotz, a professor of business administration at Texas A&M University, coined the term in May 2021 and attributed it to pent-up demand from workers who deferred decisions to quit earlier in the pandemic.
The Great Resignation has changed the way we work and how businesses attract and retain talent. It’s now less about offering competitive salaries and more about providing a better work-life balance. It is also about helping people grow and develop their careers in an environment that supports their personal growth goals.
In these times of uncertainty, recruiting and employee retention are more important than ever.
So how do you attract top-performing employees and retain them for the long haul? Here are seven tips to help you attract and retain talent:
Treat your employees well:
Employees are the most valuable asset of any organization. The right people will help you grow your business, reduce costs, and stay competitive in your market.
Remember the Golden Rule you learned in kindergarten? Treat others the way you want to be treated. Well, that rule still applies in the professional setting.
Treat everyone equally, regardless of their role. Show respect to all employees and ensure that you have an excellent work-life balance. If your company has a reputation for treating people well, this will help attract other talented workers.
If you want to retain talent, employers need to spend more time with their employees outside the office environment. Having coffee together or going out after work can help build strong relationships between coworkers and create an atmosphere where people feel more comfortable and part of something more than “just a job.”
Keep the company culture alive
It can be hard to attract and retain talent in a fast-paced industry. But with the right company culture, your company will be able to attract top talent and keep them engaged for the long term.
Company culture is the set of values and behaviors shared among employees in an organization. It reflects how people communicate, collaborate, and behave when they come together to do their work. A strong culture helps employees feel connected to each other. It also makes them feel aligned with their company’s goals, which allows them to perform better as individuals and as teams.
Encouraging social events is a reliable way to keep your company culture alive. For example, try out weekly lunches or monthly happy hours. While it may seem easy to do, these events are just as important as any other workday.
For special occasions such as birthdays and critical milestones, go the extra mile and host larger gatherings to show the event’s significance. These can be simple affairs, like a BBQ in the park or a gathering at a local bar for a cocktail class.
These events will help form friendships around the office, but it’s also a chance for you to show them how much their hard work means to you by celebrating with them.
Company culture doesn’t solely revolve around social gatherings. It is also critical to highlight the importance of company values through your culture.
For example, is your company’s mission on building trust and acquiring customers through product-led growth, or is it more of a sales-led business? Making sure your employees understand the company’s mission is crucial for the team to be on the same page, reach goals and maintain transparency.
Allow for flexible schedules and remote work
Remote work is a trend that has been growing over the last decade.
According to Owl Labs, 59% of employees said they would be more likely to choose an employer who offered remote work than those who didn’t.
36.2 Million Americans will work remotely by 2025.
Remote work allows employees to maximize their time by working when and wherever they want. For example, suppose you have a family event during regular business hours. In that case, remote work gives you the flexibility to attend without worrying about leaving early or taking vacation days.
Studies show that remote workers are happier and more productive than those who commute into an office each day—a win-win for everyone involved.
Technology helps make managing a remote team a breeze. Everything you need is right at your fingertips. There is Slack for short, instant messages and Zoom for video calls. There is project management software where you can assign tasks, delegate responsibilities, and monitor the progress of your projects.
Airbnb is the latest billion-dollar company to say goodbye to the office forever. Brian Chesky, the CEO of Airbnb, recently announced that the company’s employees could work from anywhere. The policy also includes overseas locations for up to three months. Following his announcement, Airbnb’s recruiting page received a million visitors.
This story alone shows the desire for flexibility in the work environment. Nobody likes rigid rules. Optionality is the name of the game for recruiting in the post-pandemic world.
When looking at relocation trends, moving for a new job is the top reason why people move. Offering remote work options allows you access to talent that might be the best fit for the job but prefer not to relocate.
Invest in employee training and development programs
Training and development are not the same things. A training program is a specific course, or set of courses employees can take to learn new skills. Development programs help employees prepare for future roles. Implementing a robust development program is extremely important if you want loyal talent to stick around and produce at high levels throughout their careers at your company.
In fact, a recent study on The State of High Performing Teams found that 17% of people who applied for another job in the last 6 months cited “not enough growth opportunities” as the primary reason.
For example, suppose you have an engineer working for four years on your company’s main product but now wants to move into product management and strategy. In that case, a program designed specifically for this purpose could help make a smooth transition and build the appropriate skills needed for success in the new role. This makes for a good development program. It aligns with business goals by allowing employees to expand their expertise or advance their careers by learning new skills.
Investing in these programs also helps mitigate turnover costs. This is because people often leave due to a lack of growth opportunities. Owl Labs confirmed that 90% of people quit their jobs in 2021 for better career opportunities.
Development programs show employees that you care about their future and overall career growth.
Give your employees a platform to share their opinions
Employees want to feel valued, but they also want to feel heard.
Give your employees a platform to share their opinions by creating a forum for them to do so. This could be as simple as one employee survey a quarter, with the option to elaborate on their answers anonymously.
The purpose of these surveys is not just to get feedback from your employees but also to get them engaged in improving the company’s processes and products or services.
It’s essential that you follow up on the ideas they suggest, so they see that you care about what they have to say. Make sure you implement some of those ideas where possible.
Mentor and be mentored
Starting a new job is tough. You are trying to learn the company culture, get up-to-speed on your functional skills, and build your brand. Juggling all of these things can feel like you are drinking water from a fire hose. A mentor is beneficial in these situations.
A mentor typically has already been through these situations at some point in their career and can help guide a mentee through it and provide advice on overcoming challenges or setbacks. They can also offer guidance on navigating office politics, which can be especially useful if this is something that intimidates a new hire.
Mentorship comes in many forms: formal programs where mentors are assigned by management; informal relationships with team members who share their knowledge and expertise; or even just asking questions when needed without any official connection between mentor/mentee pairings.
Mentoring is a two-way street; mentees can help their mentors too. Mentees can help provide valuable feedback to the organization, which can be passed on to senior leaders for implementation.
Investing in employees can help you keep them from leaving
As discussed earlier, your people are your greatest assets. Investing in your employees is a surefire way to secure future growth and achieve long-term success.
If you don’t know where to start, take a peek at what has been successful for other companies in your industry and ask yourself: “What could we do to better support our employees’ efforts?”
This might mean offering competitive salary and benefits packages, including paid time off, health insurance, paternity leave, retirement savings plans, gym memberships, etc.
On the other hand, that might not be the one-size-fits-all solution.
For example, investing in equipment for your employees is critical for your business development. It also shows that you want to make their job as seamless as possible.
From new devices to specific tools, such as computers or a rewording tool for copywriters and marketing teams, an email finder tool to collect leads and grow the sales rate, for providing new equipment will allow your employees to focus on their work with all the essential resources they need to succeed.
Finally, don’t forget to recognize their hard work with awards or small incentives like gift cards. Don’t underestimate the power of recognition. After all, happy employees are excellent brand ambassadors.
A small gesture goes a long way when your employees work many long hours. After a successful client presentation, a $30 Starbucks gift card could be worth its weight in gold.
Final Thoughts
In a fast-paced, competitive industry, it’s essential to keep your eye on the prize: attracting and retaining talent. If you don’t have the right people, your company will never reach its full potential.
To attract and retain talent, you need to offer them the opportunity to grow professionally and personally by providing training and development programs.
Create an environment where employees feel supported and valued by management. Make sure you offer flexible work arrangements so employees can balance work with their personal lives.
Employees are the backbone of your company. It is critical to keep them engaged, happy, and motivated. A little effort goes a long way.
How to Attract and Retain Talent in a Fast-paced Industry
- Treat your employees well
Treat everyone equally, regardless of their role. Show respect to all employees and ensure that you have an excellent work-life balance. If your company has a reputation for treating people well, this will help attract other talented workers.
- Keep the company culture alive
Encouraging social events is a reliable way to keep your company culture alive. For special occasions such as birthdays and critical milestones, go the extra mile and host larger gatherings to show the event’s significance. These events will help form friendships around the office, but it’s also a chance for you to show them how much their hard work means to you by celebrating with them.
- Allow for flexible schedules and remote work
Remote work allows employees to maximize their time by working when and wherever they want. Offering remote work options allows you access to talent who might be the best fit for the job but prefer not to relocate.
- Invest in employee training and development programs
Implementing a robust development program is extremely important if you want loyal talent to stick around and produce at high levels throughout their careers at your company. Development programs show employees that you care about their future and overall career growth.
- Give your employees a platform to share their opinions
Give your employees a platform to share their opinions by creating a forum for them to do so.
The purpose of these surveys is not just to get feedback from your employees but also to get them engaged in improving the company’s processes and products or services. - Mentor and be mentored
A mentor typically has already been through these situations at some point in their career and can help guide a mentee through it and provide advice on overcoming challenges or setbacks. They can also offer guidance on navigating office politics, which can be especially useful if this is something that intimidates a new hire.
