The Great Talent Reset

Ask any leader today about their biggest challenge and they'll say it's filling jobs and keeping good people. Business owners and leaders are very worried about their ability to attract and retain talent. They should be. Here's why.

Help-wanted ads have returned to pre-pandemic levels, as businesses seek to fill jobs, according to job-search site Indeed. Many have scaled up in anticipation of a stronger recovery once vaccinations ease the impact of the pandemic.

A few months back, I wrote to you about how Even in a Pandemic, Companies Still Struggle with Employee Turnover. You may recall that I offered a complimentary copy of my book, Selecting for Success, for those of you who wrote to me and shared your biggest challenge regarding employee retention and the attraction of talent. 

The response was overwhelming. People wrote to me and said things like:

We are having a problem attracting people, as we pay below market rates.

We’re having difficulty selecting entry level staff with high turnover positions.

Our biggest challenge is finding people who fit in culturally with our organization. Is there an automated tool that is precise in assessing cultural fit?

Due to Covid, we’re no longer competing for talent solely against others in our local market as you no longer have to leave your home office to be hired.

I could go on and on, but I think there’s enough here to unpack.

Let’s start with compensation. First of all, no guide (or consultant) can help you attract and retain talent, if you’re unwilling or unable to compensate people adequately.

You may have heard people say that money doesn’t matter. The people who say this have money!

I was talking the other day to a senior recruiter who recently left his job. I asked him why he resigned and here's what he said.

"I got tired of telling the owner and senior management that we're unable to compete for talent because of the wage structure. Our starting salaries were $3-$4 and hour less than our competitors." He went on to say that he felt like he was trying to fill a water bottle that had a leak in it. Eventually he tired and he and practically the entire recruitment team left the organization. He's now working for the competition and is doing well. He's able to staff jobs and feels good about his work.

Even my non-profit clients are finding money in their budgets to compensate people fairly. These clients understand that people are working extremely hard these days and need to feel that they’re valued by their employer.

How much you’re willing to pay someone is directly correlated to the value you place on this individual. Sorry to say, but there’s no getting around this.

If you want to hire the best, then figure out a way to pay these people what they’re worth.

This may mean making one less hire this year. Or if you’re a business owner, taking home a smidgen less in pay. Or, offering one-time bonuses to make up for the lower than expected base pay. Be creative.

Next, let’s address cultural fit. I’m a firm believer that it’s critical to hire people who fit in best with your culture, which I talk about extensively in my latest book, Evergreen Talent.

As far as an automated tool that is precise in assessing cultural fit--well, I haven’t come across this yet. Have you?

I know that many of you would rather do anything than go through the hiring process that’s required of hiring managers.

I really wish I could be your Fairy Godmother and provide you with a way to get out of this. I can’t. 

What I can do is make this process as painless as possible for you.

Read my Selecting for Success Guide. (Don’t have a copy? Write to me at [email protected] and tell me what your biggest challenge is in terms of talent, and I’ll send you a free copy.)

I promise you this guide will change your life. If you’d like to take this one step further and integrate this approach to hiring into your organization, then schedule a call with me. 

The hunt for remote workers. Yes, I get that in the past, workers might have come to you or stayed with you because they didn’t want to relocate. That’s all changed, at least for now, as more remote opportunities are becoming available daily.

Let’s look at the flip side of this. The world now is your oyster. You have vastly expanded your talent pool. You no longer have to spend time trying to convince candidates to consider your location nor do you have to invest a ton of money relocating people. 

Go forth and recruit far and wide! 

One last thing...I’m thinking about offering a complimentary 45-minute Zoom call for senior leaders or business owners who ask on how to create an Evergreen Talent Strategy? that will yield immediate results in the post-pandemic world of hiring.

On our call, you can ask me anything on the topic of leadership and talent. You can invite your senior leadership team to join us or we can have a private conversation. Happy to do this for the first five executives or business owners who ask. Drop me a note and tell me what you think of this idea and what you’d most like to get out of our session, so together we can determine if this session is right for you.