Retention and Hiring Tips

How to Thrive in the Talent Shortage

By Karen H. DiGioia Herbein | Mosteller HR Solutions

Back in the early ‘60s, Pete Seeger wrote the modern folk song “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” A 2022 refresh of this song might find the lyrics changed to “Where Have All the Employees Gone?”

While, from a public health perspective, we are moving steadily back to “normal,” this is far from the truth on the job front. The lingering effects of COVID on the workforce, in combination with other factors, finds employers struggling to attract and retain talent.

Record high “quit rate” of over 4 million a month. Unemployment rate of 3.8% – lower than pre-pandemic levels. Decreased labor participation rates. 24% increase in entrepreneurial activity. Delayed turnover from employees who largely stayed in place in 2020 and much of 2021. Retiring (and early retiring) baby boomers. Pandemic epiphanies. Continuing childcare challenges.

These and many other factors are coming together to create a “perfect storm” that is likely to be with us for quite some time.

Layer on top of this economic and wage inflation. In late 2021, Herbein | Mosteller HR Solutions conducted our first Salary Budget Survey. Responses confirmed what we already knew: Merit increase budgets are on the rise, and many organizations are layering additional market adjustments on top. Bottom line – to attract and retain talent, many organizations are investing (yes, I said “investing”) more in pay.

My word choice here is deliberate. When it comes to employees, too often we use the word “expense.” While it may seem like a matter of semantics, it’s an important distinction. If you need to upgrade your technology, you invest in new hardware and software. If you’re trying to reach a new market, you invest in marketing. But when it comes to your most critical resource – your human capital – we talk about expense rather than investment. Let’s change that thinking. If you don’t make the investment in your employees to ensure that you have a solid foundation of competitive and equitable compensation, all those other investments will be worthless. That powerful new software or marketing campaign will have no value if you don’t have the human capital you need to maximize those investments and bring a return.

Other than ensuring that you have a foundation of competitive and equitable compensation, what else should your agency be doing to ensure that you are positioned to thrive in 2022?

Focus on Retention

Bringing in new employees is challenging, timeconsuming, and costly. Now, more than ever, agencies should focus on retaining the talent they have. To look at how to retain employees, let’s start by discussing why employees leave.

While many employees who resign say that they are leaving for a job with higher pay and better benefits, the real question is “Why did they go looking for another job in the first place?” Frequently, their decision had nothing to do with pay and benefits. Let’s explore some of the real reasons employees leave and what we can do to ensure that they stay.

#1: Build Strong Managers

There’s an old saying out there that goes something like this: “Employees don’t leave companies, they leave managers.” Managers are the main point of contact with employees. According to Gallup, if employees are engaged by a leader that they trust, it can take a pay increase of more than 20% to entice them to leave. Strong managers communicate. They lead. They inspire. They develop. They recognize and play to the strengths of each employee. They retain.

Unfortunately, few managers are ever trained in how to do these things well. Many were strong operational and tactical employees that, at some point, found themselves in a management role and expected (magically?), overnight, to know how to manage. In addition to investing in a foundation of competitive compensation, agencies should invest in upskilling their managers. Supervisory and management training are critical to ensuring that managers, new and experienced, know how to communicate, lead, inspire, develop, and retain employees.

#2: Communicate, Communicate, Communicate (and When You’re Done, Communicate Some More)

We’ve often heard that “safety is job one.” When it comes to your employees (as with all relationships), communication is job one! A strong relationship is reliant upon strong two-way communications, and this includes the relationship between employees and employers.

Listen: Gather feedback. Whatever format is right for your agency – one-on-one conversations, focus groups, employee engagement surveys, stay and exit interviews – you need to be listening to employees. As Epictetus, a Greek philosopher from the first century AD, was credited with saying, “We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.” Make sure your agency is creating regular (and safe) opportunities for employees to speak and that you are listening with both ears!

Speak: While it’s critical to listen, it’s equally important to speak. Leaders and managers need to proactively communicate with employees about expectations and then provide regular feedback regarding performance.

Communication should also encompass the bigger picture. Your agency may be good at communicating information to employees – enrollment dates, deadlines, new policies, meeting schedules. But what about the bigger picture? Make sure that you’re clearly communicating the agency’s mission, values, and goals. Ensure that employees understand how they fit into the agency and know that they are valued.

#3: Invest in Employee Development and Training

To whatever degree you can, make sure you are creating opportunities for employees to learn and grow. By developing your current talent, you’ll improve retention and better position the agency to promote from within when the need arises.

#4: Commit to the Health and Well-Being of Employees

The past two years have been rough. Recognize that stress and burn-out are rampant, and that, as an employer, it’s appropriate to help. The tactics you can use run the gamut from formal programs like EAPs that provide support for employees struggling with stress, to less formal approaches. Employer-sponsored desk yoga. After work (voluntary) employee gatherings and happy hour. Employer-sanctioned “mental health” days. Bottom line: Provide ways for employees to connect and de-stress.

#5: Build a Healthy Culture

We hear a lot about creating and nurturing a healthy work culture but may not spend a lot of time defining what a healthy culture is. A healthy culture is one where employees are trusted, safe, respected, and valued. Their opinions and input are sought out, considered, and appreciated. In a healthy environment, employees feel safe to speak up when they see a problem and feel comfortable “being themselves” at work. People operate with integrity.

Look around: Do those statements fit your agency? If your answer is “no,” you’ve got some challenging, but worthwhile, work ahead of you. As the saying goes, “the longest journey begins with a single step.” Start today. Make a commitment to meaningful change, identify your challenges, and take it from there – one step at a time.

#6: Embrace Flexibility

In a recent article, McKinsey and Company reported on research that found that parents were more likely to have recently left their job than nonparents. The reasons largely had to do with work/life balance challenges. Organizations that are open to flexibility are better positioned to attract and retain employees who are struggling to maintain this balance. Flexibility can take many forms (and they don’t apply only to parents):

Schedule – Is full time work a requirement or is part-time an option? Is there flexibility regarding when work can be done? Can you accommodate periodic shifts in schedule or hours so an employee can get their child to dance class, baseball practice, or a doctor’s appointment? The more flexible you can be as an employer, the better you position yourself to retain (and attract) employees.

Location – Is remote work an option? This can be a permanent arrangement or on an “as needed” basis. Employers that require all employees to show up all the time are at a disadvantage when it comes to attracting and retaining employees.

Another form of flexibility may apply to later-career employees. Those nearing retirement may be interested in “repurposement” rather than retirement. Rather than going from 100% to 0% overnight, can workers remain “on the job” in a way that provides them with greater flexibility, but keeps them involved with the agency? This could be a win-win option that keeps these experienced employees a part of the agency for a longer period and allows for a more gradual transition.

Maximize Your Ability to Attract

Regardless how strong your employee retention, at times, you’re going to need to bring in new talent. It’s critical to recognize that it’s a candidate’s market right now. Those applicants that you’re seeking to attract have many options in front of them. The more you look at the recruitment process as a “courtship” (be on your best manners, dress your best, bring flowers, you get the idea), the more successful you’ll be.

Make sure that your hiring process is “candidate-centric.” If it’s not efficient and easy, your candidates are likely to go somewhere else.

Ensure that you’re casting a wide net for candidates. If you’ve embraced remote work, take full advantage from a recruiting perspective. Also, make certain your job requirements are focusing on things that are truly required for the role. Narrowly defined educational and experienced requirements can eliminate candidates that may have acquired the competencies required for the job via a less traditional path.

Hopefully, this article has provided you with some “food for thought.” But how do you know where to start? Most agencies can’t (and shouldn’t) do it all.

Listen to your employees. Look at why they stay and why they leave. To whatever degree you can, take a “custom” approach to recruitment and retention. Each employee has unique needs. Meet your employees and applicants where they are. Don’t assume. Ask. Listen. And, when possible, accommodate.

The pandemic was a reset for employers and employees alike. The uncertainty of 2020 put many employees in a “holding pattern.” Now, employees are reevaluating their work experience – and reflecting on what’s working and what’s not, and they’re more than prepared to make a change. The good news is that there are many things that agencies can do to impact their ability to retain and recruit. Organizations open to introspection and change will gain competitive advantage in attracting and retaining the talent required to thrive in the postpandemic era.

Karen H. DiGioia provided this article on behalf of Herbein | Mosteller HR Solutions, IA&B’s contracted human resources consulting firm.

As part of your IA&B membership, expert advice is just a phone call or email away. Have an employeerelated challenge that you’re not sure how to handle? Contact Karen at 610-779-3870 or khdigioia@herbein.com.