Retaining talent: the biggest challenge for companies

In this post we will elaborate you the Attracting and retaining talented employees with 11 actions to ensure retention.

Retaining talent has become increasingly difficult for the company, creating a challenge for management. The present generations have shown more flexibility in the professional life. It is a considerable change from the behavior of the previous ones, who used to spend years working in the same place.

This is a new pattern of behavior, added to other factors of great influence in this scenario. Some had a change of perspective with the pandemic, such as:

• professionals questioning themselves about the purpose of their work;
• flexibilization of the journey ;
• process automation with fast scanning .

Many companies are already struggling to find the talent they need.

And more: less than half of them have a clear view of the current skills of the team.

Because of all of this — and a few more things we’ll discuss in this article — talent retention is often a paradox. It is an obstacle and, at the same time, a solution for companies .

All that managers least want in cases like this is to receive the news of an involuntary turnover . This can interfere with the progress of projects, with future planning and unbalance an entire group .

There is only one word that can turn this game around and stop a resignation: engagement! And she is responsible for making the retention of professionals one of the biggest challenges today.

See: a global survey by the Gallup Institute showed a drastic drop in this issue in Latin America. Engagement in work was reduced by seven percentage points in 2021, with a similar scenario in virtually all countries in the region .

61% of employees say they have difficulties or suffer in their daily lives. This can explain a lot! Do you know why?

These are aspects that directly reflect the role of companies on a daily basis . As a result of a period of great transformations caused by the pandemic, some problems surfaced:

• many people lost their jobs or businesses;
• stress has become an increasingly frequent problem;
• external factors, such as the economic crisis and the loss of family members, affected the lives of many people.

It is common, therefore, to come across pictures of discouragement and demotivation .

To deal with this context, preparing leaders and drawing up effective plans is the first step . Employee experience — or employee experience — can earn big points with this!

The concern with the well-being at work and the satisfaction of the team must be one of the main objectives of HR! Later on, we’ll bring you other action ideas to help you in that goal!

Advantages of Retaining Talents

Often, corporations are betting on new hires to meet the demands of skills on the team. What if, before that, there was a prediction about this need? It is what would make it possible to offer growth opportunities to one of the team members.

The chance to develop is the most important concern among young professionals looking for a job . Certainly, thinking in the medium and long term and betting on those who already wear the company’s shirt can bring excellent gains!

This is the point at which a planned management focused on the human capital of the business must reach . And this article doesn’t say that, Gallup data confirms:

• work groups achieve an increase of up to 19% in results when they count on developing their strengths;
• engaged workers are 18% more productive ;
• profits can increase by more than 20% when the team is engaged.

The influence of leaders is also highly expressive! A manager who generates enthusiasm in the team adds value to the results. Are 69 times higher chances of a talent to engage in their work when the leadership makes him feel enthusiastic about the future.

And remember: layoffs caused by disagreements between leader and subordinate are very common.

Why do employees leave companies?

Stop to think about how many times you haven’t felt welcomed in one place and remember the end of the story. It’s simple: when an environment or situation causes discomfort, the only feeling is that you want to get rid of it as soon as possible. Attracting and retaining talented employees

Bringing it now to the corporate world, there are a number of factors that disadvantage companies when it comes to retaining talent . Are they:

• salary in disagreement with the function or with the market;
• stress ;
• exhausting or inflexible journey ;
• misalignments with leadership;
• lack of growth prospects and career plan;
• low levels of organizational climate;
• inconsistency of organizational culture ;
• disagreement of purpose between the company and the professional;
• better opportunities in competition;
• problems in interpersonal relationships ;
• lack of recognition .

And beware: high employee turnover can pose a big problem for the organization . This is a number that directly impacts your employer branding and the external perception of an employer brand.

The negative consequences also fall on the instability of teams, measurements of the corporate climate, loss of productivity and damage to customer relationships .

11 actions to ensure the retention of professionals

We’ve already talked briefly about some initiatives that can help the company retain talent. The time has come, however, to delve into these ideas!

1-Propose human capital as one of the pillars of culture

If the corporation has people as the basis of its organizational culture, the feasibility of actions aimed at retaining talent on the team is greater. Strengthening this theme makes executives and managers orient themselves on it .

It’s easier to count on decision making that supports the retention of professionals!

2-Funding for courses and training

Propose a survey with managers for a periodic budget for training teams.

It is possible to proportionally think of a division to cover (in full or in part) the investments of professionals in courses and books, for example. How about combining this measure with the construction of good career plans and individual development?

3-Involve leaders in discussions on the topic

Does your team of leaders know how much the retention of professionals represents in the final results of the business? Separate data — including what we’ve described in this content — and invite them to chat about it.

Managers have a lot to contribute with the partial vision of the areas and great insights can arise in partnership with HR!

4-Practice good internal communication

Identifying communication failures and promoting constant improvements to eliminate any kind of misinterpretation is a factor linked to the turnover of professionals. This avoids disagreements, contributes to transparency and makes people feel comfortable in an environment without secrecy or rash opinions.

5-Develop your team of leaders

The training of leaders ensures important points for the pace of evolution of the teams. It also contributes to the preparation of managers, and establishes an extremely necessary approach channel between HR and company leaders.

Investing in the improvement of these professionals can result in a better alignment between organizational culture and management profile . Another positive effect is the ability to deal with the different situations and phases the business goes through.

Leadership is always a factor that counts a lot in an employee’s decision making. Bet on it!

6-Adapt the selection process to the business profile

Recruitment is the first contact for a new member in the organization. Therefore, we can say that it is the beginning of a management focused on the objective of retaining talent in the company.

Do you know why?

An intelligently executed selection process increases the probability of attracting profiles aligned with the rest of the team. It’s a great start to a lasting relationship between the new talent and the corporation!

7-Balance the team’s work routine

Intra- and inter-working breaks are extremely necessary . How hard are the professionals working in the company? Digital electronic time attendance solutions are an excellent option for tracking hours worked indicator in hybrid work times.

Pay attention to employees who are exaggerating the hours worked! This awareness demonstrates concern for professionals. It is a favorable point for the team’s talents to feel well taken care of by the organization.

8-Value for health and well-being

Speaking of attention to the work routine, the team’s overall health and well-being have a lot to do with engagement !

Burnout frames have a high chance of causing serious problems, such as Burnout Syndrome . It is worth planning actions to introduce and discuss related topics, as well as thinking about initiatives that balance the professional and personal life of employees.

9-Conduct continuous weather surveys

Investigating the organizational climate of companies is one of the most effective measures for the strategic performance of HR. And it’s no use carrying out an annual survey; it is necessary to periodically know what is happening between the team in order to be aware of it in time to act .

10-Diagnose the organizational culture

How much does your company follow the presence of the brand’s values ​​internally ?

The strength of organizational culture in a business depends on:

• clear definition by executives;
• good dissemination of culture starting from HR, passing through managers and reaching the perception — and participation — of employees;
• constant monitoring to reinforce the pillars based on actions aligned with the organization’s purposes.

Any sign of weakness in the internal culture can pose a problem in the team’s perception. This is directly linked to the motivation to stay, or not, in a job.

11-Plan for jobs and wages

Knowing the possibilities of positions and promotions motivates professionals to want to achieve better results and grow within the team. Not only that: a job and salary plan demonstrates the fair relationship between company and people .

If your organization has not yet made this type of information available to employees, propose the idea to the board.