The Great Resignation is spreading across the globe, that’s if it hasn’t already. The Great Resignation is a phenomenon originating in the US during the first year of the pandemic. American’s by the millions were quitting their jobs. Restrictions gave employees time to evaluate their priorities, and it seems as though working an unfulfilling role wasn’t at the top of the list for a lot of them. In fact, the number of Americans quitting their jobs hit an all-time high in November 2021.
It now seems as though this movement has made its way to all corners of the world. Many are feeling burnt out from the pandemic. Some have even had the realisation that they don’t want to spend their precious time on this planet doing something they don’t enjoy. So what can you do as an organisation to not only retain your talented employees, but attract more?
Being aware of your current and future employee’s thinking styles is crucial, not just to retain them, but maximise their productivity as well. Using the HBDI® is a great way to learn about your employee’s thinking styles and is one of the leading tools you can utilise when it comes to attracting and retaining talented employees in 2022. Alongside using the framework of Whole Brain® Thinking, here are five ways to give your organisation the best chance at retaining your high performing employees, and finding your next star.
1. Invest in your people
Investing in your team is one of the best ways to retain your best workers. When employees feel looked after, not only do they want to stick around, but they also make sure they are putting out their best work too. When prospective employees can see that current employees are being looked after financially, with good benefits and consistently getting trained with new skills, it is always a green tick in their books.
Workers are looking for businesses that are going above and beyond at the moment, and with a labour shortage in many industries, they have the power to. Workers want to be trained, learn new skills, and gain new experiences that are going to make them not only better workers, but better people too. Upskilling your current workforce is a mutually beneficial practice and something that more companies need to be taking advantage of.
2. The company culture
A company’s work culture, values, and mission are all big deciding factors for potential new employees. Now more than ever workers are putting their beliefs first and making sure the business priorities are inline with their own. Being environmentally conscious is a big priority for a lot of workers now, so often they will do research into their potential employer’s stance around the subject, and this often ends up being one of the deciding factors. So, making sure that your organisation is aware of social and world issues is the bare minimum in today’s climate. This rings true even for a businesses current employees. Today workers are feeling more empowered, and are more likely to leave their current role if their values don’t align.
The work culture within an organisation is a large consideration for prospective employees. Work culture is something that can often be overlooked during the hiring process, and may only be realised once you start working there. Websites like Glassdoor can be very revealing as former employees can leave anonymous reviews about what it was like to work there, the hiring process, and even salaries.
So if your company culture isn’t holding up, it won’t take long for people to find out, and your best employees won’t be lasting very long within the business.
3. Career progression
Career progression has never been more important for prospective and current employees. Whether that’s in the form of a promotion or securing a higher paying job, career progression can take many different forms.
Career progression is a mutually beneficial practice for both the employer and the employees. For current employees, it helps with career satisfaction, and they can become even more engaged in the day-to-day work they do. For potential employees, seeing that their potential role will enable them to grow and adapt is a large selling point that may be able to further entice them into the position.
A few ways to help your employees’ careers grow is by setting goals with them, making sure they’re having consistent meetings with their manager, and providing them with training and development opportunities. These are great ways to both retain your current talent and find your next great hire.
4. Be flexible
If the coronavirus pandemic has done anything for us, it has shown that a lot of jobs are capable of being done remotely. Prior to 2020, there were not many businesses that allowed working from home as an option for their employees, but stay at home orders forced us to adapt.
Some businesses have tried to get their employees back into the office full-time when restrictions began to ease, but most of them did not agree with that mindset. Working from home has provided a lot more flexibility for workers, most gaining a couple of extra hours per day with no reason to commute in the mornings and afternoons.
It is now seen as almost a compulsory option when looking for a new job, with people turning down great roles because of the lack of flexibility. Businesses need to be adapting to the times and provide flexibility, whenever they can. This could be in the form of throwing out the 9-5 expectations, and allowing people more options with what hours they work, because the usual 9-5 is not for everyone.
Flexibility is an attractive trait for potential employees, and it is not something all businesses are providing, which could keep your star employees with you.
5. Using Whole Brain® Thinking
The HBDI® asks questions to find out what kind of thinker you and your employees are, and you can then leverage cognitive diversity as a strategic advantage for your organisation.
Knowing how your current workers think gives you the best opportunity to retain them at your business, whilst also maximising their performance. When it comes to potential or new employees, the HBDI® will give you the information necessary to start them off on a great note at your organisation, and put you in the best position possible to make sure that they will be staying with you long-term.
If you want to learn more about how Whole Brain® Thinking and the HBDI® can help you and your organisation, have a look at how it works here or get in touch and we’ll help you find the right solution.
