How to Engage And Retain Your Employees During Covid

Since March, we've experienced a record high unemployment that created a 'buyers market', shifting the power from worker to employer. In order to maintain their operations, companies were forced to cut jobs, salaries, and benefits. But, there are now signs that the economy is starting to rebound with the U.S. unemployment rate dropping from 10.2 percent in July to 8.4 percent in August and is projected to grow by six million jobs over the next nine years. To illustrate how many organizations are struggling with retention during Covid, KPMG surveyed CEOs to identify the biggest priorities on their agenda. While only 1 percent said 'talent risk' was the biggest risk on their agenda pre-Covid, it's now their biggest risk overall with 21 percent of CEOs rating it that way. To combat their 'talent risk' concerns, they are providing new tools to keep their talent connected, focusing on well-being, re-skilling, and restructuring.

Now that many companies aren't requiring relocation, they are competing for talent from around the world, who also have more options because they can work remotely. Even though employers have more power because the unemployment rate is still high, it's balanced by workers have more choices over whom they work for. And worker expectations have shifted due to growing concerns around Covid. They are expecting much more from their employer than before. Employers have to prioritize safety, flexibility, transparency, and technology when trying to win over job seekers or maintain their workforce. Those who attempt to force workers into an unsafe environment will struggle to retain them, and when the word gets out (which it will), recruiting will also be an issue.

The cost of employee retention and the value of employee engagement

Several years ago I worked with Beyond.com to better understand the cost of retention, specifically for Millennials because there was a public outcry that they were job-hopping so much that employers couldn't hold onto them. We discovered that 87 percent of companies reported it costs between $15,000 and $25,000 to replace each full-time Millennial employee they lose. Since Millennials were mostly entry-level workers during the time in which we conducted the survey, that means it's about $20,000 to replace an entry-level worker. The cost of retention is linked to how senior the position is because higher-level positions command larger salaries. SHRM estimates that it costs $20,000 to $30,000 in recruiting and training expenses to replace a manager making $40,000 a year. This calculation is based on it costing about six to nine months' salary on average to place a salaried employee. And, it also costs about $1,500 to replace each hourly worker.

There are both hard and soft costs that are used to calculate the cost of retention. About two-thirds are soft skills, including reduced team productivity, interview time, lost knowledge, morale, and cultural impact and one third are hard skills, including recruiting, background checks, drug screening, training, and onboarding.

Retention and engagement are directly correlated. The more engaged a worker is, the longer they will want to stay at their organization, everything else being constant. And, engagement is tightly linked to productivity so by engaging a worker, they are going to perform better and stay longer, which saves costs and increases impact on the organization. Disengagement is an indicator that workers are going to begin their job search. A Gallup poll found that over half of disengaged employees will look for another job and almost three-fourths will want to quit. People also leave managers, not jobs. Without the support of your manager, it's nearly impossible to succeed at work.

Why creating a healthy and supportive work culture is key to retention

Even though your workforce is decentralized and isolated at home, you can still create a healthy and supportive culture without a physical office space to gather in. And, it starts with leadership that actually values human beings instead of looking at people as 'talent'. Now that work and life are intertwined, people just want to be their full selves at work because work is home, and home is work. When you feel like you belong, and that you're an important team member, you want to naturally work harder and stay longer in your role. When there's psychological safety, workers can take more risks, be vulnerable, and most importantly, be themselves.

Workers hope that their employers will take care of them even more during a crisis when their lives are much more challenging. They want to be at a company that is constantly communicating, being honest, and promoting the programs and benefits that will help solve their work and personal problems. When you don't have to worry about your finances, healthcare, childcare, and your safety, you can focus more on being a highly productive worker. On the other hand, if you are suffering mentally, emotionally, physically, or financially, that is literally all that you'll think about even as you attempt to do work.

How to engage and retain your employees during Covid

• One-on-one check-ins and discussions. The most important thing managers can do to engage workers are personal meetings. Check-in with them to make sure they are feeling OK and that they are making progress in their projects. While personal contact was always important, you have to invest that much more time, and take it that much more seriously, during Covid when they aren't in a nearby cubicle. By just asking "how are you", it's showing that you care about their situation and that you're there for them as a support system. Acknowledge their situation with empathy, and then ensure that they have what they need so that they feel safe and secure in their job.
• Be as flexible as possible. The word 'flexibility' has come into prominence during Covid because everyone who ever wanted it (and could do it), is getting it, but it looks different for everyone to some degree. Managers should be having conversations around flexibility with their team members to identify what types of flexibility are most important to them based on their unique circumstances. For instance, if a parent is homeschooling during a period in the afternoon, don't have meetings at that time and understand how hard it must be in their situation right now with schools closed and them having to take on more responsibilities. Make it easy for your workers to juggle their schedules and set boundaries, guidelines, and 'rules of engagement' around flexibility so everyone is on the same page.
• Give them the benefits they need. Having the right benefits in place reduces employee financial stress because they factor into the costs that employees would have trouble paying right now during Covid. Benefits are not only a competitive advantage in recruiting but can be leveraged for retention because employees don't want to give up the benefits they need to support themselves and their families. The most important employee benefits during Covid include paid leave, flexibility, employee assistance programs, healthcare coverage, and childcare support. Right now, approximately three-fourths of companies offer flexible working, 80 percent offer virtual mental health services, and 86 percent said health insurance is a 'must-have'. Workers need both childcare support, to help them manage their job and parent their children, and paid sick time, just in case they contract Covid or another illness.
• Communicate regularly with transparency, heart, and empathy. Everyone is feeling stressed out right now because of all of the uncertainty, overwork, having loved ones who are sick or recently passed, and out of fear of job loss. But, as a leader, you can alleviate some of that anxiety by addressing these emotions, being vulnerable, and communicating regularly with care, empathy, compassion, and honesty. By acknowledging what people are going through, you are helping them be more resilient, confident, and optimistic, which is what we all need right now. Make employees feel safe and secure if they want to speak openly about what they are going through because in many cases they are spending more time with their co-workers than anyone else. When an employer actually cares for their workers, they feel included in their organization (95%), would recommend their organization to a friend (91%), and plan to stay at their organization for 3 or more years (60%). 
• Make technology your asset instead of a liability. All of these digital tools, like Slack and Zoom, have enabled people to remote work, collaborate, communicate, learn, and share together. But as powerful and prominent as these tools have become, especially during Covid, it's easy to lose sight of how to effectively use them to engage workers in a human way so they understand the message and don't get mixed signals. In my book "Back to Human", I explain that when you overuse technology, such as sending thirty messages back-and-forth, it can create confusion and unnecessary arguments between workers. That's why managers should encourage phone calls and video conferencing to ensure messages are getting through when necessary.
• Plan fun activities with your team. If you want to cheer people up, give them a sense of belonging and increase engagement, you should incorporate fun activities during the day and organize a set of virtual happy hours. When employees share their interests outside of work, they form stronger bonds with each other than when they strictly talk about work. Fun activities create connections that give teammates a sense of well-being and make them feel more fulfilled at work.
• Invest in their learning and development. By investing in your workforce, they are more inclined to reinvest back into your organization. And, with all the disruption we're facing, it's cheaper to provide your employees with the education they need in order to fill important roles within your company than having to recruit external candidates. Now that most learning is virtual, it's time to either create a curriculum in-house or partner with third-party providers to give them access.
• Over index on recognition. Even though it was always important to recognize your employees for their hard work and project results, it's even more important right now during Covid. Much like all communication during this period, you have to overemphasize your employee appreciation to have the same impact as it would have in person. Recognition is free and is most effective when you single team members out during meetings so they feel special and appreciated for their contributions. Make recognition part of the culture so that you aren't the only person doing it, but the team naturally recognizes each other for their efforts.

The future of employee retention and engagement

As we proceed through the Covid pandemic and eventually navigate through the aftermath, one thing is very clear, the more we solve for human needs, the more we can create a highly engaged, healthy, and effective workforce. And, when workers are happy and productive, retention no longer becomes an issue. After studying company culture for over a decade, I still come to the same conclusion, which is that the best workplaces with the highest retention rates are the ones where workers feel like they're part of a family. By this I mean, you can rely on your coworkers during the good and bad times, that you cherish your time with them like you would your actual family, and that you are set up for success financially, emotionally, and mentally through various benefit programs and the support of leadership.

I'm optimistic about the future of retention and engagement because companies are under pressure to incorporate, and invest in, the right employee benefits programs now. And, managers are currently being judged accordingly to how they are treating their workers, which will result in better leadership in the aftermath of Covid. While we have to go through this incredibly challenging workforce reset, it's an important one that will hopefully lead to better behavior and move us into a brighter future.

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