Future-Is-Now considerations for attracting and retaining talent

Introduction

Economic globalization has created growing demand for skilled workers. Suddenly businesses are more interested than ever in what attracts talent and what keeps it engaged. The answer is not new – employee experience. What’s changing in a big way is the experiences employees seek, and how business creates them. What are the work experiences that will engage the best talent?

Strategy is just words on paper without the people to drive it. And as the saying goes, “good people are hard to find.” Korn Ferry, a global management consulting firm, estimates that by the end of 2030, there will be a shortage of 85.2 million medium-to-high-skilled workers across 20 developed and developing economies. And this has given employees the upper hand.

In the old days competitive salaries and benefits were enough to get the right people in the right roles. Today, it’s all about the work experience. Companies that hope to attract and retain the people they need to make their business go need to create an environment that inspires and engages employees and empowers them to be and perform at their best.

What do employees really want?

According to Mercer’s 2019 Global Talent Trends Study, today’s talent is looking for:

• Work experiences that are simple, intuitive and digitally enabled
• Flexible work options
• Curated total rewards and learning opportunities that speak to their individual needs

And, what happens when these experiences aren’t delivered?

• Disengagement: Gallup estimates that US companies lose between $450 billion and $500 billion because their employees aren’t engaged at work.
• Attrition: The cost of attrition is staggering. Various estimates by industry analysts range from tens of thousands of dollars to 213% of annual compensation for the role, depending on the skillset, the level, and the ecosystem to attract and onboard a new hire.
• Unhappy customers: According to Gallup Companies with a highly engaged workforce see customer satisfaction measures 10% higher than those with low engagement

The value of engaged talent is clear. But according to Gallup, 85 percent of employees around the world are disengaged.

What can be done to close the chasm?

Remove constraints: Don’t be hemmed in by physical location. Talent is everywhere. Once the constraint of having to be on-site in a primary location between 9am and 5pm is removed, the trickling stream of talent becomes an ocean of possibility. According to a recent study, 70 percent of knowledge workers living in urban locales say they would move to outlying areas and work remote if they could do their jobs at the same level. And gig workers are expected to account for more than half the workforce by 2027.

To tap into this talent pool whitespace, companies will need to broaden their definition of “workplace” and create digital environments that accommodate these new work models. When they do, they’ll not only find they have access to a broader scope of talent, but if they choose their technology wisely, their employees will have what they need to do their best work in a simple, unified and secure way.

Eliminate friction: A positive employee experience requires removing friction from work and facilitating better collaboration. And there’s a lot of it to remove. According to independent research firm IDC, the average employee spends nearly 65 percent of their time on busy work and in meetings, 20 percent searching for information and just 15 percent doing what they want and are paid to do.

Digitization has driven innovation and progress, but it has also created a complex technology ecosystem that can slow the pace of work. “The Experience of Work,” research conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), found that of the 1,100 senior executives across eight countries and industry sectors surveyed less, than half (46%) feel the applications and devices provided by their organization make a positive contribution to their employees’ experiences.

For the first time, we’re hearing candidates interview companies. And, what they’re asking may surprise you. “What technology tools will I have here? What software is available to me?” An extremely bright 20-something, recently told me that in deciding between two job offers, “the technology I’d have at each organization was going to make or break my choice.”

Employees today expect things at work to be as easy as they are in their personal lives – particularly millennials and Generation Z who now account for the bulk of the global workforce. The technology is out there to make this possible, and companies need to deliver it. Digital workspaces, for instance, can be used to serve up “work feeds” that just like the feeds employees get on their personal devices, automatically deliver a prioritized list of tasks along with the insights and information needed to get them done on the work devices of their choice.

Focus on Digital Wellness. In today’s always-on, uber connected, global business world, it’s easy to work around the clock. And many employees do. But they shouldn’t. A recent Quartz Insights study found that 67% of respondents believe being “always on” has a significant negative impact on their health and wellbeing. A recent Gallup study found that 23 percent of employees around the globe feel burned out at work “very often” or “always.” And the World Health Organization has officially identified burnout as a legitimate medical condition. And if left unchecked, it can lead to depression and anxiety. While the World Health Organization estimates the cost of depression and anxiety to the global economy at $1 trillion in lost productivity, the greatest cost cannot be quantified. And that is the impact on the quality of life for an individual weighed down by coping with the heaviness and overwhelm these disorders can bring. Organizations need to recognize the importance of addressing mental health issues and provide access to resources to support employees at work and beyond to keep them working at their best and engaged.

Renew a sense of appreciation: Something as simple as providing a sincere “thank-you” can infuse the work environment with trust, commitment and productivity. It builds trust between giver and recipient. And it instantly confirms what all humans crave – our ability to matter and make a difference. According to Work Human, a multinational company that provides human capital management solutions, when we are grateful, we are healthier, more resilient, and achieve more.

Recognize that the workplace has changed: We’ve left behind the idea of work as a place we go. Work is now a thing we do. And in today’s interconnected world of work, it’s highly likely that you have a teammate, client, or vendor with whom you never physically interact. Work today is more virtual than ever. And remote and flexible work models are fast replacing traditional ones. Companies must face this new reality and leverage best practices and technology to build team capabilities among a geographically dispersed workforce. They can, for instance, create digital workspaces where workers located outside physical locations connect and collaborate with colleagues who are hundreds, thousands and millions of miles away as if they were sitting in the same room, alleviating feelings of isolation and disconnection.

Understand the employee journey: Employee experience (EX) can be defined as every touchpoint an employee has with their work-life across three dimensions: culture, physical space, and digital space.

TI People, an authority on designing employee experience, define touchpoints as seamless moments + moments that matter.

• Seamless moments are interactions an employee would expect to occur without friction (ex.: getting her laptop on your first day of work, receiving help at the help desk, finding the room for employee orientation)
• Moments that matter are emotionally laden going into them (ex.: returning from parental leave, a performance review, giving a big presentation)

And, here’s the kicker: Seamless moments can quickly turn into moments that matter if they are badly broken. Companies must understand the key employee journeys and the moments that matter within those journeys, because it is these moments that ultimately drive a positive experience and strong engagement. And engagement is the magic behind innovation, productivity, customer satisfaction and revenue.

Create a Clear Path: Designing employee journeys must be done in context of the winds of change shaping the future of work and the direction they are blowing. And three key trends lie at the heart of this:

AI: Deloitte estimates that by 2021, $2 trillion in business value will be created with AI, and 61% of jobs are being redesigned with AI and robotics in mind. Mercer found that more than 50% of executives expect AI and automation to replace 1 in 5 jobs in their organization. AI has tremendous potential to reshape the way work gets done. And companies need to harness it to make employees more strategic by freeing them from mundane work.

Redefined role of the corporation: The modern organization is rising to a call to be more than a profit-generating machine. In 2019, The Business Roundtable declared a dramatic shift in the purpose of a corporation from being solely focused on generating shareholder value to also creating value for customers, employers, supplies, and communities. And the Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends Report 2019, found that purpose-focused companies outperformed their S&P 500 peers by a factor of 8. In aligning with social causes that matter to their employees, companies can give greater meaning to work and inspire employees to do their best.

Five generations in the workforce who all want and need very different things: The face of work has completely changed. Five generations are officially working together. And they couldn’t be more different. Millennials prefer Slack and texts, while Generation X still likes email and Baby Boomers will actually pick up a phone. Their styles are unique and they all must be accommodated to achieve common goals.

Recognize and accept change: The level of disruption today is unprecedented. Companies that think change can be ‘managed’ are at a disadvantage. It can’t. And companies need to shift their focus toward building resilience in people. Companies that help employees realize that every change is a choice will build teams that can move quickly and adapt to change because they are empowered to make their way, and rewarded for taking action rather than waiting to be told what to do next.

Conclusion

There are those who think employee experience is just a feel-good term tossed around by HR teams. And there are those who know better. The success of an organization depends on the people whose passion, insight and talent drive it forward. And at the end of the day, a company is only as good as the people it keeps. Companies that put people first and focus on creating an environment in which they can use their special skills and do meaningful work can attract, retain and develop the talent they need to innovate and deliver results.