Retention and Promotion to Manage the Continuing Labor Shortage
The labor shortage continues to dominate the economic landscape, and companies are struggling to acquire skilled talent. The talent shortage is even more problematic for firms experiencing resignations in critical areas of their organizations. While companies search for new and improved ways to source and attract new talent, there are other trending strategies that are key for success in 2024.
Talent Retention
We all know how important it is to retain employees, and one of the major reasons workers change jobs is because they feel they are not learning new skills. In addition, as technology changes, some jobs become eliminated, and other job skills need to change. A company can either allow people who feel they have stopped learning new skills to leave or replace current employees with new hires with current skills. However, the trend in 2024 for winning companies is creating upskilling and reskilling programs.
Turnover is expensive on three fronts: (1) the cost of vacancy, which is often overlooked; (2) recruiting costs; and (3) costs associated with reputation or employer brand.
Putting upskilling and reskilling programs in place gives your employees a sense that they’re constantly learning and upgrading their skills, enhancing retention. These programs also cost much less than starting recruiting processes in a talent-starved economy.
Promotion
Another reason people leave jobs is due to a lack of upward mobility, so creating career development programs that show career paths for your employees is also key to winning against the talent struggle. Some of these programs could be cross-functional, allowing employees to gain experience in different areas of the business. Like many companies in manufacturing or the trades, offer apprenticeship programs for high school and college students. Apprenticeship-type programs can help a company build a pipeline of new talent.
Building for Today and Tomorrow
Building a successful company requires successful employees. Part of that is developing streamlined and engaging talent attraction programs, but winning in 2024 and beyond requires upskilling and career development programs as well. According to PwC, 93% of CEOs surveyed say upskilling programs increase productivity and foster a culture of upward mobility.