Employees Have Spoken 7 Actions HR Should Take

Thanks to the skills shortage and the Boomer exodus, organizations are now in dire competition for the top 10% of skilled employees— who are looking for more than just a job. Expectations include not just benefits and vacation time, but ongoing development, flexible work policies, and a meaningful place to work.

The war for talent is over–and the talent has won.

Even the most progressive companies may find it difficult to retain high performing employees.

Engagement levels are at an all-time low across all industries, with surveys showing a whopping 87% of employees either disengaged or actively disengaged.1

http://www.gallup.com/poll/165269/worldwide-employees-engaged-work.aspx

7to ensure your organization delivers what the people want:

actions to take

But the outlook isn’t all doom and gloom.With great change comes great opportunity, especially for organizations eager to build success around their talent.

The old way of work focused on managing the 1% who were doing it “wrong.” Successful companies today instead prioritize the 99% who are doing it “right.” This means transitioning from a command and control mindset to one of trust and transparency.2 Trusting your people quickly creates a culture of loyalty, leading to harder-working employees.

Stop policing, start trusting. 1

Jason Averbook, 2014: The Year of the Employee webinar. HCI February 12th, 2014

If this morning’s news is already old news, what does that say about your once-a-year engagement survey? Organizations must change how often they measure engagement and use the right metrics. A couple examples you could track are retention rates of critical employees or resignation rates by department.

Change the way you measure engagement. 2

What has social media taught us? There are no secrets. Your organization’s culture, successes, and failures are public knowledge, thanks to networks of increasingly vocal employees and customers.

Remember transparency is everything. 3

And they’re not the only ones sharing their experiences online.

Candidates today are not shy about airing their recruiting experiences, glowing or scathing. Are you giving the right candidate the right amount of attention at the right time and are you transparent throughout the recruiting process?

Quantify the value of engagement. 4

Switching to an employee-centric workplace requires leadership buy-in, so share relevant research with executives. For example, according to a study by the Jackson Organization, companies that focus on employee value see a return on equity and assets three times that of organizations that don’t.3

Steve Cooper, “Make More Money by Making Your Employees Happy,” Forbes, July 30, 2012

DON’T

DO

Stating engagement goals in terms of profits and market share helps gain leadership backing, so you’ll spend less time asking for permission to change—and more time executing it.

Realize talent is your only true differentiator. 5

Almost everything else can be duplicated, including your services, products, and customer care. Forward-thinking businesses think of HR not as cost containment but as true competitive advantage.4 Highly developed and passionate employees are the key to maintaining a unique edge in the marketplace.

Elaine Orler, 2014: The Year of the Employee webinar. HCI, February 12th, 2014

Make “our people are our most important asset” more than a cliché. 6

Ensure engagement, development, and leadership building are true priorities—and make the effort to know your people better than LinkedIn. How? Begin by demonstrating real faith in your employees by posting all your job openings internally first. Show you realize that work and life are blending by not limiting what people can do while they’re at work. Finally, make trust, not control, your driving force.

Acknowledge the new candidate priorities. 7

Job seekers are looking for a vastly different work experience today, especially Millennials, for whom meaning, mission, and mobility are paramount.

Candidates today look for these four key elements when evaluating a new position:

Will I have the ability to make a real difference? Will I be more than a cog in a machine?

Will I have career and learning opportunities? Can I progress?

Contribution

Opportunity

ONE

TWO

Will my surroundings be supportive, flexible, fun, and engaging?

Is the company inclusive? Is challenging the status quo acceptable? Will I be recognized and rewarded for a job well done?

Environment

Trust and Leadership

THREE

FOUR

Cornerstone helps our 1,700 global customers big and small deliver the work experiences their employees demand. Increasing our clients’ competitive advantage through their people is our specialty. Learn more about our unified talent solutions at csod.com or call (888)-260-3955.

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