HR Leaders Share Strategies to Boost Employee Retention in 2022

Thank you for reading my newsletters. We're on the 7th edition, and this is my first edition for this year, 2022.

Before I dive in to this week's topic, please allow me to invite you to my upcoming free webinar, Building a Thriving and Engaged Workforce in 2022 . I will be sharing practical, sustainable and replicable employee engagement strategies that you can immediately apply in your teams and organizations. If this is of interest to you and your organization, register here . Thank you!

It’s 2022. We made it.?

Just as we pack away the holiday? decorations, sweep the confetti on the floor, and try to reinvent our party food left-overs at home, we do the same too in the world of work and careers. At this point, we hope to have gone past the exodus of The Great Resignation, and pick up the lessons we learned from it to create new and better strategies for this year.?

Before 2021 ended, I sought the expertise of HR Leaders from a variety of industries in Asia Pacific to share their thoughts on these hot topics - resignation and retention. Thank you to all the 29 HR Leaders who took time to participate in this initiative. (To the others who missed it due to the busy-ness of the season, no worries, we’ll have other opportunities to collaborate).?

Why are employees leaving (or thinking about leaving)??

We’ve heard it many times and probably experienced it ourselves too - the pandemic gave us time to reflect. And if I may add, it also gave us the space to feel a myriad of emotions, which we probably did not experience or notice before.?

The reflecting and feeling by employees, coupled with the amplification of their organization’s culture, leadership and change readiness, led to realizations on individual priorities, purpose and perspectives.

While it does seem more favorable to employees, regaining their power to control and choose their careers, some organizations also saw this as an opportunity to be more intentional about hiring better fit talent and revisiting their strategy.

Reflecting on all the responses I received and my own thoughts and observations, I realized that the movement is more about The Great Realignment. It is a movement? towards a destination or a state where both employees and organizations ought to be.

Huge challenges like the pandemic calls for an agile response individually and collectively. It’s a response that involves introspection, learning from experience, taking risks and trying, and continuing to stay curious and evolve through changes.?

Here are some of what our experts said when asked why they think employees are leaving:?

“The pandemic has revolutionized the way employees? view life in general.” - May Palabrica , AVP Talent Acquisition Lead, Citi

“Employees acted like machines in the remote work set-up due to unprepared mindset of management in managing that setup” - Rovin Jhon Cincollagas , Organization Development, Meralco

“Some companies refuse to adapt, much less transform into what the situation is calling them to. Nobody was prepared to deal with this pandemic, but those who responded with agility and genuine care, won their employees' hearts. “ - Raymond Victorino , HR Practitioner

“Employees are now more privy in understanding the values in the organization, recognition of their contribution, culture, training and growth play a very important factor in employee turnover, not just the salary. “ - Alberto Ulan-ulan Jr , HR Director, ARB Call Facilities Inc

“This has led to a realisation of companies who have remained true to their purpose, values and ethos - that there are those that truly and deeply care more for their people rather than their bottom line and shareholder value.? The "Great Resignation" in my view is felt more by organisations which don't have a large population of highly engaged employees, and those that were ‘exposed’ during the pandemic.” - Ritchie Calo , Senior HR Business Partner, Cambridge University Press & Assessment

“Employees seem to be more sensitive about what they want to do, what they want to prioritize in life.” - Jacky Fernandez , Employee Experience Business Partner Manager, RingCentral

How can we learn from this experience and move forward?

Learning from experience helps build agility.?

I asked HR Leaders what retention strategies have worked for them and what they can recommend in 2022. Here’s what they shared.?

“Leadership has always been critical. Now, with emotional ties at the brink, more than ever, it is the differentiator. Empathy, communication, well-being policies, flexible work arrangements are all areas that can maximize the chances for people to persevere and stay with current organizations.” - Hugo Martinho , Human Resources Director Asia Pacific, Schindler Group

“Increase the Employee Engagement that will build a 'personal' relationship between Employee and Employer. Treat the Employees as a Business Partner as they are the most valuable asset in the organization to make it successful. “? - Zairah Mae Palmero , Head of Human Resources, Dev Partners Philippines Inc.

“Enhance employee experience and stay relevant to the needs of the people you recruit / employ, enhance their employability by offering them clear career paths and exciting trainings, engage employees on all strategic transformations with high quality internal communication, insist on high quality leadership for all team leaders “ - Regional HR VP, Retail Industry

“Deep dive on your employees' personal and professional motivation for you to better understand them and also to anticipate potential flight risk. Review your company's core values and check if your employees' motivations are aligned with these values. The most effective strategy that we created was the creation of the Steering Committee. It aimed to involve our staff in creating organization-wide programs as they understand better what works and does not work for their colleagues. This also empowers them to lead and influence.” - Michelle Morales , Senior HR Manager, Iyuno-SDI Group Philippines and Co-Founder, Leading With Success

“Employee Retention is not just a project of HR, all roles in the organization need to work together to come up with and implement multifaceted strategies and practices to retain people in the organization.” - Chermaine Laceda , HR Director, Fredley Group of Companies

“Re-invent how we do business. Re-imagine employee engagement. Total Rewards alignment (if can be done by personalizing it, do it). Re-skilling your Executives, not only your staff, especially on coaching and mentoring.” - Mark Hernandez , Associate Director - Cluster HR Business Partner, PTC Holdings Corp.

“Leaders should empower their employees by giving them the freedom to choose the set-up they want to implement. This initiative will also drive a revolution of total rewards in terms of working tools, coaching, training, and even compensation.” - Rovin Jhon Cincollagas , Organization Development, Meralco

“Hype Engagement programs and focus on KPI? - ‘Keep People Inspired’” - Alberto Ulan-ulan Jr , HR Director, ARB Call Facilities Inc

“Collaboration, Empowerment, Development” - AJ Dela Fuente , National Learning & Development Manager, Accor

“Closer touch with employees, specially in a remote environment - I believe for this HR business partnering needs be very strong. It is essential to know the pulse of the people. “ - SVP Global HR, IT Industry

“Understand the needs of the company and the needs of the employees. Focus on the roles and activities needed by the company and help people understand if these activities need to be done on the worksite physically. Upskill your people leaders with better communication skills, empathy and problem solving skills. Make the worksite conducive for people to feel attracted to be onsite. Keep your employees informed thru platforms accessible to them” - Alpha Omega Aquino , Chief People Officer, Home Credit Philippines

“Examine how your current programs fulfil what your employees are passionate about. Ask,? ‘Could your programs add fuel to their desire to stay and give meaning to the purpose they're chasing for in life?’” - Frances Kintana , Chief People Officer, Aptum Virtual Solutions

“Companies should start segmenting the different engagement drivers of employees. There is a need for some sort of identification of what stage their workforce is at. Chief executives and HR leaders need to identify what affects their employees- heart, body, mind and soul. Different people have different cores and focus. It will be wise if top leaders of the organization are able to cater these to their employees. “ - Jacky Fernandez , Employee Experience Business Partner Manager, RingCentral

“Leaders need to proactively start conversations with their employees to be grounded on what they need or what they want.” - Avery Banta , VP HR, Globe Telecom

“Timely Connect. Make them feel valued. Have better engagement + involvement structure.” - Director for Training & Quality, Customer Service Industry

“Be more flexible in addressing the needs of the employees. The benefits that you have might be obsolete already in the new normal. Time to review and introduce more flexible perks” - May Palabrica , AVP Talent Acquisition Lead, Citi

“Equip people managers to be able to manage teams remotely.” - Sr. Manager, Talent Acquisition, Service Delivery Industry

“Organisations should make attempts to understand what is motivating for employees in their organisation through employee engagement surveys, learning needs analysis and also? informal/formal conversations with managers and HR team. That can be the basis to look into many aspects such as benefits, training and development, etc.” - Shree Mogan , CHRO, Flow

“Managers should also set aside some time to connect with their staff despite their busy schedules. This way, the management, through its managers, can make the staff feel that they are being valued. Making that personal connection is a good way of assuring the employees that they belong. In this way, we are slowly creating an environment where the employees can feel that they can voice out their thoughts and ideas and won't be judged for it. “ - Anna Loraine Soriaga , VP - Human and Financial Capital Management, Co Ban Kiat Hardware, Inc.

“It is paramount for companies to truly listen to their own people, work with them on the solution, take concrete action steps, ask for feedback and effectively communicate in all channels. Despite a contracting economy, workers still expect to have opportunities for learning and career growth. Most importantly, line managers/leaders must be in the position and equipped to do meaningful conversations with their people out of genuine care, as an avenue to listen with empathy and truly connect with them individually. “ - Raymond Victorino , HR Practitioner

“Listen to the workforce. Avoid reverting to old processes. Democratize learning and development - lessen the reliance on certain groups of people to drive development.” - Head of Operational Excellence and Learning, Financial Industry

“Organizations and managers endeavour to know what their employees want. Managers should deliberately seek to discover if they are unaware about the values their team members seek for before other companies do. Then the company has to decide what it can and cannot offer and deliver, and be transparent about it. Cultivate relationships by communicating regularly, empathizing with employees and guiding them how to perform well and achieve more despite the innate challenges the pandemic brings to our work and personal lives. ” - Ivy Paraluman Fajardo De Borja , Vice President for People & Culture, PH, Acquire BPO

“Ensure alignment of the salary structure where it matches the industry. Continue developing people and prepare them for growth opportunities. Make employee experience a way of life.” - Mark Lord Limson , Senior Vice President and Head of Human Capital, Maybank Philippines

“Strengthen and amplify your Employer Value Proposition. Increase investment in development of human resources. Implement a listening program. Enhance employee experience. Move to lower quartile and median level (compensation and benefits).” - Ritchie Calo , Senior HR Business Partner, Cambridge University Press & Assessment,?

“Talk to People more often. Get to know how they're doing with work and outside work like family, hobbies, etc.” - John Luther Guzman Bondoc , Talent Acquisition Associate Manager, Coca-Cola Beverages Philippines?

Other strategies suggested by HR Leaders are:

• Offering flexibility as both a retention and attraction tool. Allowing employees to be productive in their own way.?
• Focus and improvement in the areas of wellness, onboarding, career development, recognition, learning and development, performance management
• Listening to the workforce

We need transformation, not quick-fix.?

It’s clear from what our experts shared that the strategy for retention, and ultimately, a thriving and engaged workforce, is not an overnight job. It requires more than just running seasonal wellness webinars or giving employees an extra day off. It takes more than just HR doing the job.?

Think about this, if your car was built for city driving, no amount of paint jobs or tune-ups will make it conditioned to survive or thrive through off-road paths. And if your driver drives it like a Formula 1 race car, then the tires’ rubber will be burning out sooner than you think. And then there are the passengers, who may or may not be willing to push when the car breaks down.?

In every organization, there is a destination, a car, a path, a driver and then there are passengers. All of these, individually or together, at some point will change. The solution is not quick or easy. But done right and with agility, sustainable transformation can happen.?

And it can start with the next conversation you have with your boss, colleague or employee.

Note: The survey responses have been condensed and edited for clarity.