Employee Retention: How Businesses Can Win the War for Talent

The war for talent is heating up. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that in the U.S. more workers are quitting their jobs today than they have in the last two decades. The publication noted that the share of U.S. workers leaving jobs in April was 2.7 percent, up from 1.6 percent a year and LinkedIn News warns of a “summer of churn” for employers. It’s important that businesses understand how to attract and keep talent by connecting with the priorities of job seekers and employees. 

What’s Going on with the Labor Market? 

According to multiple news reports: 

• A record 4 million people quit their jobs in April alone, according to the Labor Department, which NPR describes as “The Great Resignation.”   

• The labor movement is prompting employers to increase wages and step up their recruitment efforts as businesses struggle to keep up with the economy recovery occurring in 2021. 

Why Are People Leaving Their Jobs? 

People are quitting their jobs for many reasons, among them: 

• The economy is healthier, and the unemployment rate is dropping. A stronger economy is making people more confident about looking around for another job especially as the unemployment rate drops from pandemic highs. According to The Wall Street Journal, “The appetite for change by employees indicates many professionals are feeling confident about jumping ship for better prospects.”  

• White-collar employees are looking for flexible working arrangements. Lockdown living in 2020 gave people a taste of virtual working. Many employees like what they experienced. They’re not ready to go back to a physical workplace, and they’re exploring other opportunities that permit them to continue working remotely. As Bloomberg reports, white-collar employees are quitting instead of giving up their work-from-home privileges when employers expect them to return to the office. (In professions such as retail and quick service restaurants that require in-person working, people flat-out won’t put their personal safety at risk as the pandemic  continues albeit with vaccination rates increasing.) Remote working arrangements, though, are a doubled-edged sword. By necessity, employers who hired people during the pandemic managed the employee onboarding virtually. New employees who work virtually have not had a chance to really meet their colleagues and bond. They are more vulnerable to leaving.  

• Employees are experiencing pandemic-induced burnout. An uptick in layoffs in 2020 created more stress for employees who picked up the workload for their colleagues whose jobs were eliminated. A Wall Street Journal article cites the example of an information technology worker who found himself the sole help desk employee remaining after his employer eliminated every other position in his department. He endured the resulting stress because he had to. But when the economy rebounded in 2021, he left his job for another opportunity. In addition, the pandemic caused stress levels to skyrocket among parents of grade-school children who struggled to balance work demands with their children living in lockdown, too.  

What Should Businesses Do? 

Businesses need to align their recruitment and retention efforts with the priorities of job seekers and employees. For instance: 

• Be empathetic. Understand what’s motivating people, and connect with their emotional wants and needs with your recruitment messaging. For instance, according to a McKinsey survey, employees “fear that on-site work will lead to a greater chance of getting sick and that remote work will reduce community and collaboration between colleagues.” How might your recruitment/retention address those concerns head-on? Making onsite working compulsory might come across as being tone deaf. In addition, “Employees with young children are the most likely to prefer flexible work locations, with only 8 percent suggesting they would like to see a fully on-site model in the future.” How might your recruitment and retention outreach address the needs of working parents? 

• Connect with values. People seek to join organizations whose values align with theirs, especially purpose-driven values such as diversity and inclusion. This is especially true of younger generations such as Gen Z, who make up an increasingly large segment of the U.S. population. As  recruitment firm VidCruiter notes, younger generations “want an employer that prioritizes social and environmental issues and takes a stand against injustice — at work and in the world at large.” Companies are responding by connecting with purpose-driven values. According to a PwC survey of CFOs, “Around half of CFOs say they are increasing diversity and inclusion training for employees and creating new opportunities for them to have conversations about difficult social issues. Tolerance and unity help improve productivity and innovation while also helping build trust and transparency with employees and other stakeholders alike. While a D&I journey may be difficult to take on, such efforts are beneficial — to companies and to society broadly — and it’s the right thing to do.” How strong is your diversity and inclusion narrative? 

• Understand the impact of pandemic burnout. As noted, the uptick in layoffs in 2020 not only challenged people economically but also created tremendous emotional strain for those who lost their jobs and those who took on an increased workload. As an entrepreneur quoted in a recent article said, “It's not just about the job anymore.” Many job seekers are reeling from the emotional strain of either being out of work or being overworked. How might your recruitment/retention efforts address their concerns, especially if you are seeking to fill demanding roles? 

At Investis Digital, we also urge companies to treat recruitment like a customer journey and align your outreach with digital touchpoints along that journey from awareness to employee advocacy. This mindset means adopting the same digital tactics that successful businesses have traditionally deployed with consumers, from targeting to email drip campaigns. 

According to Investis Digital Strategic Group Account Director Lianna Kissinger Virizlay, “Reaching job seekers with the right content at the right time is now an expectation of the talent journey. This shift was happening before the pandemic. If you just look at any company’s profile on Glassdoor, you can see from the reviews how high the expectations are for potential employers to provide a relevant and responsive recruiting experience, and to do that, companies need to be more thoughtful about how they connect with people where they are with content that speaks to them. Successful recruitment means a lot more than posting a job description and waiting for resumes.” 

Creating a successful recruitment journey starts with the fundamentals of market research, building personas, and creating a map of the recruit’s journey with digital marketing touchpoints embedded throughout the journey. 

Think of how businesses attract customers from awareness to referral, and act accordingly. No one tries to attract a customer without first understanding who they are, and their journey to purchase. The same holds true with the recruitment journey. 

To sum it up: 

• Businesses need to get more sophisticated about their recruitment and retention efforts -- borrowing successful marketing and customer loyalty tactics such as building customer personas and creating campaigns that align with a person’s journey from seeking a job to becoming a long-term employee.  

• Understand the wants, needs, and priorities of job seekers as discussed above – and make sure your outreach connects with them. 

Contact Investis Digital 

To improve the way your business attracts and keeps people, contact Investis Digital. Our HR & Talent Acquisition solution helps businesses succeed with creative outreach that transforms brand perceptions with job seekers and employees. Learn more about our thinking through our new report, How to Build Trust with the 4Rs: Responsibility, Reputation, Recruitment, and Reach.