F.A.I.R. PLAY FOR TALENT

Will talent shortages persist in 2023? It’s a resounding YES, according to Forbes.

Let’s set the background story.?

Effective leaders must move beyond the “Great Resignation” and “Quiet Quitting” to address the challenges presented by today’s labor pool.

We are still seeing high turnover?rates and inflation isn’t making the battle for talent any easier.?Couple that with demographic shifts of Baby Boomers retiring and Gen Y maturing beyond entry level jobs, and we can see how the struggle for talent is real.

Today’s workforce cannot be characterized as “resigned.” In fact, it’s the “Age of ReCALIBRATION.”

Meaning that employees now have stronger preferences about where they want to work, the kind of work they want to do, and with whom they work alongside more than ever before. This is a fundamental understanding of how?employees will continue to push further and force the shape of organizational cultures. Leaving leaders with a primary directive from staff:

Step up your culture game with development and F.A.I.R. play.

Faced with not having enough talent to fill jobs, we are also experiencing a growth in employees being disenfranchised or disengaged. The Society of Human Resource Management claims engagement is at its lowest level since 2015 hovering around 32% leaving a staggering 68% of employees disconnected with their current place of employment.

Given that outlook, I suggest leaders focus energies infusing cohesion into their cultures and paying attention to four key areas of workforce trends expressed in the acronym F.A.I.R.

My research into group dynamics with an emphasis on cohesion, proved that the presence of belonging, value, and mutual commitment drives performance through engagement. Oftentimes, organizations may realize up to a 50% increase in productivity and creativity when teams are functioning with a cohesive mindset.?

I call it the “Cohesion Phenomenon.”

Cohesion = Performance = Engagement?

With 71% of employees seeking to be ready for their next growth, development, and advancement opportunity, leaders have a tremendous opportunity to shift the play in culture and give employees a F.A.I.R. reason to engage.

It’s clearly not your Grandpa’s workforce anymore. There’s no turning back.?

If your company wants to be a Best Place to Work and win the war of retaining talent, then the organization’s culture of cohesion must be available for in-person, remote, and hybrid workers.

Leaders must make a conscious effort to engage employees by creating an environment of inclusion, ensuring that people have meaningful work, and promoting collaborative work teams engaged in achieving mutually desired outcomes.?

• Flexibility: Offer hours of operation and work locations that support the concept of work-life integration. If your company does not serve a traditional service-mindedness for your market of 9-5, then consider reshaping the hours of operation. Review job descriptions to find opportunities to expand work in new locations for those employees where it makes sense to do so.?
• Autonomy: Design work to give the greatest amount of decision-making and initiative to the workforce as possible. This does not mean to give away authority, but to expand the opportunities for people to make selections and choices well within the purview of their job functions and responsibilities.
• Inclusion: Ask your employees what makes them feel included at work. More than likely you will hear, “being asked my opinion, I want to be included in the early stages of communication and corporate direction, or I’d like my supervisor to spend time helping me learn new things.” Whatever positive message you hear … act upon it. Make it happen.?
• Readiness: Design training curriculum that?develops and aligns your talent. Guaranteed if you do not take an interest in employee growth and advancement, they will go elsewhere to find it.?Here are two examples of programs you can create to ready your employees and add depth to your culture playbook.

1. Three Level Leadership Development program aimed at building up self, leading others, and extending the company’s brand beyond its four walls and into the community.
2. Organizational Internship program that allows employees to shadow work in other departments of interest. In simple terms, it’s giving an employee with an interest in another department a safe way to see whether the work is right for them or not.?AND, it allows management in that area to try out new talent without finalizing a commitment.

Based on the trends of the workforce today, leaders can effectively reduce turnover costs (up to 50-75% of the person’s salary who left) by infusing cohesion into the culture and building F.A.I.R. workplaces giving attention to these four areas: Flexibility, Autonomy, Inclusion, and Readiness.

Read more from Dr. Troy Hall, Ph.D. I-CUDE :

• Does Your Culture Excel in Truth, Doing & Simplicity?
• Make culture a strategy and it will find something else to eat for lunch.

"This is how it's always been done." When these words are uttered by organizational leaders, the company is setup for failure. The "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" mindset shows leaders who are only thinking about the day to day.?They are incapable of realizing the big picture success that could be had through change. Click here to read my latest Leading On Purpose newsletter to learn how dynamic change can set your business up for success!

Peace now and always,

Dr.?Troy

Recognized as a?Top Business Leader by Valiant CEO Magazine , featured on The Today Show, ABC, the Global BV-TV Network, Beyond the Business Radio Show, and CEO World,?Dr. Troy Hall ?is an award-winning talent retention consultant, international?speaker, and author of the bestselling titles;?Cohesion Culture: Proven Principles to Retain Your Top Talent , and?Fanny Rules: A Mother’s Leadership Lessons That Never Grow Old .?As the founder of?Cohesion Culture? , Dr. Troy has dedicated his career to establishing a cycle of culture wellness in the corporate and professional sphere.?His consulting and executive coaching engagements are built on the strategic framework of Cohesion Culture?, making the concepts of belonging, value, and shared commitment easy for organizations to adopt and implement.