What your employees really want: opportunity
Last month I had the opportunity to attend HR Inspire in Nashville. It was a great conference with smart speakers tackling the things that are all top of mind for leaders in our industry. There were so many good, thought-provoking sessions. And as you’d imagine, I was deeply invested in the conversations happening around talent management and building strong employee experiences.
I am not only a founder of a startup, I am a fierce advocate for talent. From the ground-breaking Voice of the Candidate work I do with my friends at PandoLogic to the development of WORQDRIVE, I come to work each day looking for ways to make the workplace better for all employees.
There are a lot of great ideas floating around about employee experience. Many pieces I read focus on three key areas of employee experience that are aimed at impacting the Great Resignation and retention overall. We all know that engaged employees are more likely to stay.
But here’s where I run into problems: Most of the ideas in the ether are missing a HUGE element of what keeps people in their organizations: opportunity.
Yes, when people feel fairly compensated, have flexibility, and are recognized for the work they do, they are more likely to be engaged. But without opportunity, they are not as likely to stay.
Look at the McKinsey study from this summer, look at LinkedIn’s research from Talent Connect. They are all pointing to OPPORTUNITY as the driver of retention and engagement.
I am not saying that pay, flexibility, and recognition are not important, but I think they are table steaks. Of course, they want these things. But to stay, they need to know that there are opportunities for them in the organization to move, grow, take on more (or less), based on where they are going as a person.
They come to you for the pay, flexibility, and recognition, but they will stay for the opportunity. Without opportunity, the top-performing employee staying in their current role has an expiration. But when they know they have opportunity to grow, take on new challenges, and continue to be engaged, they stay.
So, without opportunity, they will be engaged, but they may not stay.
People are dynamic. They change every day. They grow every day. They take on new passions all the time, and our organizations have to honor this fact by giving people opportunities to grow WITH you.
As we go into 2023 and you’re thinking about how to make sure we don’t see record turnover again (or even turnover of those employees who leave a big gap in your org when they leave), you need to focus on creating opportunity: opportunity for them to stay.