HR thought leaders and influencers write and speak often about the importance of retention, but as we have seen with the Great Resignation and Quiet Quitting, very little is done to ensure that exceptional employee engagement is the norm. At best, it is rare.
Is Exceptional Employee Engagement Possible?
There needs to be a concerted and continued effort to not only attract but also retain talent. When compared to the minimal efforts for better employee engagement and development as well as succession planning and retention, there is an incredible, almost excessive, amount of effort put into talent attraction, recruitment marketing, employer branding, and ultimately, hiring.
Here’s the truth: Onboarding should never end.
“Onboarding refers to the processes in which hires are integrated into an organization.” – Society for Human Resource Management definition
Continual integration of employees is required. It seems there is no real understanding of what it takes to replace good, loyal employees – to fill those positions they leave vacant when they quit or resign because they have not been truly integrated into an organization nor do they feel that sense of belonging. The cost is greater than the estimates around time-to-fill, and it is more than the lost revenue attributed to an open role. It is often forgotten, overlooked, or simply dismissed how much is put into each new hire, the necessary training, the requisite time to build and sustain loyalty, as well as develop internal brand ambassadors.
The best employees are often years and effort in the making; an employee like that does not magically appear the moment an offer of employment is extended.
Brand Ambassadors
Every employee is a marketer for your organization.
Every. Single. One.
If you lose that marketer, what else do you lose? Besides the work duties performed by said loyal, quality employee, you also lose a voice that promoted and represented your company well. You lose the time spent developing that loyal voice. It is far more than the loss of performed duties for any one position or job, department or region. Additionally, what is the cost for employees who stay, who feel the loss of that same ambassador and quality employee, perhaps even their superior? Does that loss impact their loyalty or ambassadorship?
Then, let’s think about the kind of marketing or branding being done by employees who are not loyal, happy, or engaged, whose experience has been poor or even worse – miserable.
You know…, the employee who stays, the one who quiet quits.
Is It Possible To Keep Quality Employees?
Human Resources is inundated with work, whether it’s onboarding or the incessant requests for supervisors to do interviews, conduct one-on-ones, and performance reviews, or responding to individual questions from inquiring employees regarding payroll, benefits, bonuses, promotions, transfer requests, complaints or claims, maternity / paternity leaves, PTO, or illness. The queries are many. How do you keep up and then ALSO, on top of everything else, help employees feel valued on a consistent basis?
For those who work in workforce management, who have been or are HR practitioners, recruiters, employer branding and talent acquisition, engagement and retention, plus succession planning, there is real pain.
This real pain breaks even the best of us.
Is There A Solution?
The discussions today surrounding Gen Z are as boring and dated as those we used to have about Millennials. Mostly, they are inaccurate. The reality? The Next Gen Workforce is calling their own shots. They are less concerned about stability and long-term employment. They want to be valued for what they contribute. They know respect is earned and that it goes both ways: the employer must also earn it.
To improve engagement, start talking to the employees who do well as often as you do to the ones who struggle or who have tendered resignations.
What drives your workforce?
What helps them to do well?
What makes them loyal?
Why do they stay?
Why do they leave?
How can each employee feel supported?
What do they need to succeed?
And then? Listen.
Listen to their answers. Ask them how their experience can be improved.
Develop an Employee Path based on those answers – a route to follow so your organization arrives at the destination known as Success.
The Most Important Customer? Really?
So many CEOs say that their employees are their most important customer, their most important asset.
But do they mean it?
Do they do the necessary work?
Do they put their money where their mouth is, willing to spend the resources necessary to show employees they are valued?
Retention isn’t free.
Never has been – never will be.
But the cost of not making it a priority is far greater.
By Rayanne Thorn Krueger
Founder and Strategist, Never Enough Media
Experience: Recruiter, Retention Manager, HR Tech and TA Tech Marketer
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rayannethorn