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Archive for Employee retention

Keeping Employees Engaged During a Transition

I work with all types of organizations. While my main focus is small to medium sized companies, at least once a year I engage on a project with a larger organization. This enables me to update my knowledge about employee and leadership challenges and best practices in those environments so I can transfer those learnings to my work with smaller organizations.

I recently worked on a project where there was significant change occurring in the organization. Change can be difficult. Especially when those impacted by the change, e.g., employees during an organizational transition, don’t understand the reason for the change or how it will affect them. This lack of knowledge translates into fear: Will I still have a job? Will I have a new boss? How will our way of working change?

That fear often pushes people toward the exit. Better start looking for a new job now. Even those employees who decide to wait it out may be less motivated and engaged in their work as they worry about what’s to come. My main take-away from this recent project as well as my many years of experience helping clients big and small through change is communication and transparency are key!

Below are a few best practices to follow if you know your organization is planning to change, whether it’s at the departmental level or more broadly as part of a large company-wide initiative.

Communication Plan

Most effective organizational change efforts begin with having a solid communication plan. But the quality, delivery, and implementation of that plan can make all the difference in whether employees adapt to the change or not. This is especially true in today’s hybrid environment where it takes effort and intention to deliver the message in multiple ways. Without clear, frequent communication about what’s going on in the organization, employees may fill in the gaps with worst-case scenarios of their own.

Quality

Employees will most likely know something is up even before you announce the change. They’ve observed the closed-door meetings if working in the office. Even in remote working environments, employees will hear rumors from others. As soon as possible, communicate the impending change and the reasons for it. Provide as much information as you can and be honest about what you anticipate the journey to be like and any bumps you might encounter along the way (transparency). Encourage employees to ask questions. You won’t have all the answers but enabling two-way communication is a start in getting them onboard. Explain that you are sharing as much as you can/know at that point in time. Set (and fulfill) the expectation that you will keep them updated as things progress and change. Organizational transitions, especially mergers and acquisitions, can take a long time to complete. Many things can change during that period and employees need to be kept informed.

Delivery

Communication of the change should be delivered from the top down. The CEO or business owner should make the initial announcement to employees. Prior to this meeting all leaders should be briefed on the change and aligned with the messaging. As much as possible meetings regarding the change should be held in person or via virtual town halls, if working in a remote environment. What’s most important is a forum with opportunities for employees to ask questions. After meeting with employees, continue to update them in a variety of ways e.g., Slack, emails, blog posts in your company portal, etc. Make it easy for the employees to learn about the change and what to expect.

Implementation

Communicating change is not a one and done activity. Business conditions/environments can change at any time. The pandemic is a recent example of businesses having to pivot quickly and plans having to be altered. In the current business environment, the outcomes you initially anticipated as business leaders may change. The reduction in force you hoped to avoid may now be unavoidable. Without updates along the transition journey, employees will be relying on what they were initially told. Having those expectations suddenly altered will impair trust, impact engagement, and propel them toward the door. Repeating the message is key! It is more effective to communicate the message in multiple ways/methods and multiple times then to under communicate.

“Data shows that leaders are 9x more likely to be criticized for under-communicating than for over-communicating. Those who say too little come across as unclear and uncaring. When you’re tiring of your message, it’s just starting to land.” – Adam Grant

If you or someone you know is embarking on an organizational transition, I’d love to help. You can reach me at michelle@connecttohr.com.

Increasing Retention Through Cross Training

In my last article I talked about some of the strategies you, as a business leader, can implement to “recession proof” your organization.

This time I’d like to share another strategy – cross training – that can help you get through the bad times, and also has myriad benefits – for both the organization and employees – during the good times.

Benefits to the organization:

Increased organizational agility – i.e., the ability to quickly fill a skill gap when an employee leaves. Replacing an employee can cost nearly one and a half times the employee’s salary, including recruiting, hiring, and training costs, plus the cost of lost productivity. Having someone cross-trained and already up to speed to fill the role – even temporarily – can reduce or even avoid those costs.

Greater “big picture” business operations knowledge among employees. When employees have the opportunity to broaden their company knowledge beyond their specific role it gives them a better appreciation of others’ contributions and increased understanding of the various interdependencies in the workflow. It can also spark ideas for improvements and increase interest in growing with the organization.

Increased engagement and potentially reduced turnover. Often, employees who are dissatisfied with their job immediately look elsewhere without considering a lateral or upward move within the organization. By giving them a “taste” of internal opportunities, they see a future for themselves within the organization and are less likely to jump ship.

Bigger pool of employees who can be promoted from within. Hiring from the outside takes time. Having a pool of cross-trained employees who come fully equipped with company and process knowledge can avoid the lag time while a newbie gets up to speed and prevent the loss of existing talent.

Preparation for future talent needs. If you anticipate that a particular function in your business may be phased out, cross training employees who will be affected by that is a great way to get them ready for the change and keep them on board.

Benefits to employees:

New skills and opportunities. Employee surveys indicate that key dissatisfiers for employees are lack of opportunity and lack of development. Cross training can address both of these concerns by giving employees new skills and exposing them to opportunities within the organization.

A chance to demonstrate their value beyond their current role. If the cross training includes working with a different leader or different team, the employee has the opportunity to show their skills and qualities in what may be a future opportunity.

Increased motivation and reduced burnout. They say a change is as good as a vacation. Learning something new and developing new skills or using skills that were underutilized in their current role can spark increased motivation prevent burnout.

A couple of additional benefits for both the organization and employees is that you, or the employee, may discover hidden talents that have been dormant while performing their existing role, and learning about each others’ jobs can create a more cohesive team.

If you need help in setting up a cross training plan, please reach out to me at michelle@connecttohr.com.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion – How to Lead the Way

Numerous studies have shown that a diverse workforce can have a positive effect on the bottom line. But building and maintaining that workforce is more than just hiring people of color and from different backgrounds. Unless you follow through with equity and inclusion once they’re on board, your commitment to diversity is just lip service.

So how do you create a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion? It needs to be a concerted effort – starting at the leadership and systems level – that considers all activities – hiring, promoting, communications, company gatherings, development, team assignments, terminations, etc. – through a lens of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Here are some tips.

Regularly confirm your commitment to diversity and inclusion by ensuring that teams, projects, promotions, development, and other opportunities are open to the broader definition of diverse individuals – gender, ethnicity, points of view, sexual orientation, etc.

Encourage conversation to promote understanding. Consider organizing group conversations of diverse employees where participants share their different perspectives and experiences. Hearing personal stories about the impact of exclusion can be powerful in creating empathy and understanding.

Build awareness around microaggressions. Often, seemingly innocuous statements or questions can make others feel uncomfortable. “Where are you from originally?” “Wow! You are so well-spoken.” “You’re strong for a girl.” Statements and questions that subtly imply assumptions based on gender or race do not promote inclusion.

Implement a mentoring program. Match peers one-on-one or in mentoring circles to provide a safe place to talk about challenges. Or consider creating affinity groups. A workplace affinity group is a group of employees with similar backgrounds, characteristics, or life experiences, such as: women, people of color, or Veterans. The purpose of an affinity group is to provide diverse populations within an organization the opportunity to share ideas and experiences.

Learn more about the small steps you can take every day to implement a culture where everyone feels valued, heard, and included in this podcast from my amazing colleague, Lisa Duerre, CEO of RLD Group.

Building a culture of diversity and inclusion takes time and effort. It’s about changing mindsets and creating an environment that allows all to feel welcome and to thrive. It begins with you, as the leader, leading the way.

If you need help incorporating diversity, equity and inclusion into your culture, please contact me at michelle@connecttohr.com.

Leading in an Age of Uncertainty

As leaders and business owners continue to navigate the process of bringing people back to the office and fully reopening, many are finding that they are “leading in an age of uncertainty.”

The recent surge in coronavirus cases due to the Delta variant prompted another revision in back-to-the-office guidelines, and yet more compliance issues for leaders to monitor.

Many employees have gotten used to the flexibility of working from home and are not ready to return to 5 days a week in the office. An Accenture report showed that 83% of employees prefer a hybrid work model, working remotely between 25% and 75% of the time.

Some workers have reassessed their careers over the past 18 months and do not plan to return to their current jobs at all, leaving employers struggling to replace them in the midst of The Great Resignation.

The opening, then closing again of schools and the lack of available/affordable childcare has left many parents (especially mothers) burned out as they strive to “do it all.” According to the National Women’s Law Center, female workforce participation has dropped to 57%, the lowest level since 1988.

Dealing with these challenges in the midst of so much uncertainty can be overwhelming. Yet sometimes all it takes is a sounding board, or some help putting together a plan, or a helpful nudge toward clarity.

You don’t have to do it alone!

Many of my clients have found Connect to HR’s 3-hour Just in Time Advisory Service the “right size” service that they need to work through these and other HR challenges.

Our Just in Time: Your Guide to HR service provides you access with up to 3 hours of senior-level Human Resources consulting support and guidance by phone, email or in person. It’s designed for small to medium-sized companies, specifically owners, CEOs and nonprofit leaders; those running the HR function; and people new to HR operations.

Just in Time hours may be used for guidance on a variety of topics that need answers NOW. Some of our most popular topics are:

Return-to-the-office planning
HR compliance
Employee relations
Employee health and safety

https://calendly.com/michellemendoza-connecttohr/45min

You can reach me directly at michelle@connecttohr.com, and find out more about our services at www.connecttohr.com.

Don’t Let Your Talent Walk Out the Door

It’s being called The Great Resignation and the facts are startling.

Nearly 4 million workers left their jobs in June, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
41% of workers are thinking about leaving their current jobs in the next 12 months, according to a recent Microsoft survey.
63% of workers who say they have a bad manager are planning to leave, according to the 2021 People Management Report from Predictive Index.

On top of that, in June, the number of job openings in the U.S. jumped to 10.1 million, the highest since the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics started tracking job openings 21 years ago.

There are a variety of reasons why workers are quitting. Some have safety concerns about going back to an office environment when we are still fighting COVID. Others have gotten used to working at home and want to maintain that flexibility. Or they are frustrated with their job, their company, their pay, or their leader and want to take advantage of what’s clearly a “workers market” to find something new.

So, as a leader what can you do to get ahead of The Great Resignation and reduce the risk of your top talent walking out the door?

First of all, there are three important things to remember:

Employees do not want to go back to the pre-COVID work environment. According to a recent Accenture report, 83% of workers surveyed said they prefer a hybrid model in which they can work remotely at least 25% of the time.
Bad leadership has always been and is still one of the top reasons employees quit.
Replacing an employee can cost between 50-60% of that employee’s salary with overall costs ranging from 90-200%.

Retention strategies should be an integral part of your workforce planning. Here’s a refresher on some best practices/strategies with a few additions for our new way of working.

Begin retention at recruitment. Be sure that the job candidates interview for and accept is the job they get. Provide an engaging, thorough orientation with opportunities to connect with the team (even remotely) and the culture. Show them where they fit into the organization now and into the future.

Train your leaders. Too often leaders are thrown into the role without any leadership development. The result is that they end up repeating the bad habits of their leaders, perpetuating a negative cycle. Or they fail. 40% of new leaders fail because of poor fit, poor delivery, or poor ability to adjust to a change down the road. Just because they were successful as individual performers does not mean they will succeed as leaders. Train them to avoid #2 above.

Be flexible. Consider each job role and each individual as you create your plan for reopening/bringing workers back to the office. Be willing to acknowledge that employees can be productive working from home, and in fact, are often more productive without the commute and other distractions.

Provide feedback and recognition. Employees want to know how they’re doing and be recognized for their efforts. Don’t wait until the annual review to have those conversations.

Provide career development and opportunities. Make it a point to understand each employee’s career aspirations. If they want to do something different than their current role, maybe there’s an internal opportunity for them in a different department. Retain them by giving them a chance to grow within the broader organization.

Connect employees with resources. Many employees are stressed and burned out from all that we’ve been through over the past 18 months. Let them know about your Employee Assistance Program (EAP) if you have one, or connect them with other resources for help.

And finally, be sure that you and other leaders in your organization are paying attention to your own burnout and accessing resources as necessary. Another startling statistic: 73% of teams with burned out managers said that they were feeling burned out. (Predictive Index)

It’s important for leaders to model behavior that encourages employees to take time off and to not work around the clock. For example, sending email at 10 pm to employees doesn’t encourage work life balance.

If you have questions about employee retention or need help putting together retention strategies, please consider Connect to HR’s 3-hour Just in Time Advisory Service. Many of my clients are finding this service helpful as they develop their return-to-work plans.

You do not have to do it alone!