Faced with labor shortages and employee turnover, companies are trying to offer more in terms of salary and benefits to attract and retain qualified executives and managers. Once in place, candidates want to feel like they’ve made the right choice. In this article, find out why your leaders are leaving and how to successfully retain them in your company.
Is the grass really greener on the other side?
43% of respondents to a survey [1] said they were likely to look for a new job during the year. At the employer level, four in ten Canadian business leaders see recruiting skilled employees as a major challenge in 2022, while retaining managers and executives is seen as an equally important issue.
Being a manager, CEO or senior executive means managing challenges on a daily basis. You must continually deal with difficulties, solve problems, manage personalities, meet deadlines as well as performance targets. These jobs are not easy and it doesn’t take much for managers to believe that working conditions could be better in another company.
However, this is not always the case. Some candidates leave their employer to try their luck elsewhere, only to return to the fold and take up their position again! From one company to another, managerial functions are similar and interpersonal difficulties within teams remain the same. As far as salary is concerned, changing to get a few thousand dollars more per year is risky if the current position is still satisfactory and coworkers are friendly.
So how can business leaders prevent quality employees from leaving if they already provide a good quality of life for their staff? What more can you do if you already offer good benefits, competitive salaries, team activities and flexibility in work/life balance?
Reasons for leaving
If you offer your employees the maximum (including 3 to 4 weeks of holiday in the first year, paid sick days, insurance and a good working atmosphere), how come they often leave after only a few months on the job?
According to Statistics Canada, by 2022, a number of factors will reduce the ability of employers to attract and retain employees [2]. These factors are:
The desire to maintain the quality of life associated with working at home.
32% of Canadians surveyed [3] said they would look for another job if their employer forced them to work exclusively at the office. Nearly 15% of respondents changed jobs in 2021 so they could continue to work from home. This trend is even more apparent among Canadians aged 18 to 34, 24% of whom have changed jobs for this reason. In addition, 36% of respondents also said they would accept a lower paying job in order to continue teleworking.
High number of open positions
Canada’s 2022 job vacancy rate is high (up 62% from the first quarter of 2020, before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic) [4]. Job offers are sent directly to candidates on their LinkedIn profile, even if they have not identified themselves as actively searching. This constant solicitation can open a door to something that will ultimately attract your employees.
Consumer price concerns
Goods, food, rent, mortgages and fuel are more expensive than two years ago. This is driving applicants to demand higher salaries, often exceeding the annual increase expected by employers.
Solutions
More than 60% of companies reported having plans to retain employees over the next year [5]. Based on the results of a Glasford International study conducted in March 2022, here are some solutions you might consider to get there, too:
Build employee engagement and loyalty by pushing managers to demonstrate greater leadership. Managers must inspire teams with their integrity and transparency, but also because they know how to communicate their vision with passion.
Create a policy of inclusion and diversity, which allows everyone to feel valued and important. Make sure you build strong intergenerational teams and regularly value each employee. Simple compliments slipped in subtly at regular intervals (some said in front of the entire team) will make them feel appreciated and respected. This recognition will turn into loyalty!
Give each employee a clear vision of their possible career development within the company. Have an individualized career advancement plan for each employee and focus on training to cultivate loyalty. But it’s not enough to train your employees: offering them the position they dream of or giving them the responsibilities they desire is just as important!
Realize that hybrid work is here to stay. By working from home a few days a week, your employees will waste less time and energy commuting and perform just as well, if not better! In fact, more than half of workers (58%) accomplish the same amount of work per hour when telecommuting, while about a third (32%) accomplish more work per hour [6]!
Invest in technology (robotics, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity) to stay ahead of any potential global crisis that could jeopardize your human capital retention and prevent unexpected downtime.
And if all of these don’t work, you can recruit good candidates by working with Glasford International Canada. Our executive search firm knows the local job market and the candidates.
90% of the candidates recruited by Glasford International Canada are still on the job after one year!
We also have a large international candidate pool, as we are part of Glasford International, a recruitment cooperative with offices around the world!
