Let’s talk about Retention!!
The last few years have seen changes in employee turnover. In 2020 we were in the midst of COVID, and many employees were laid off due to shutdowns. In 2021 was the year of the Great Resignation as employees became increasingly dissatisfied with their jobs and started searching for new opportunities. In 2022 employers started searching for employees instead of employees searching for them. In 2023 Return to work became the norm as more employers began requiring employees to return to the office. 2024 the job market is cooling, and unemployment has been slowly creeping up. This turmoil has caused employees to lose faith and employers to struggle to retain good employees.
As employers we should have learned some lessons from the Great Resignation. We should have learned that we need to invest in our employees. Many of those who resigned stated the reasons for their resignation were work-life balance, effective employee assistance programs, low pay and benefits, organizational support. Our failure to recognize what our employees need creates a culture of job dissatisfaction. We in HR can contribute to decreasing job dissatisfaction by ensuring that our policies and practices are effective. Some of the best ways to do this is by doing surveys, modernizing benefits to cover more than just the basics, flexibility in work schedules and pay that keeps just ahead of inflation.
When we address these things as HR, we have a better chance of retaining those valuable employees.