Lessons from the C-Suite - Finding and Retaining Top Talent

The hiring conundrum. Last week, Bill Williams Jr. and Aliro assembled a room full of CEOs with the help of Business & Bourbon? to discuss the labor challenges impacting everybody’s business in different ways. When asked, every single leader in the room acknowledged they’re struggling with labor supply, retention, and engagement – each ultimately having a measurable impact on their bottom line. Some industries are being hit more acutely than others by the labor crunch – retail and hospitality are experiencing higher hiring rates (7-9% compared to a national average of 4.2%), made more complex to manage by sustained quit rates. But, the combined sucker punch of hiring and retention challenges is impacting businesses across the United States.

No industry is immune to competing for talent. Government contractors (GovCons) are facing acute workplace challenges when it comes to hiring and retaining workers. While federally funded projects are at an all-time high, surpassing $650 billion in 2021, the resources to execute are in high demand and short supply. The inability to hire skilled workers fast enough poses a huge risk to their ability to fulfill projects. GovCon leaders are taking a closer look at how to engage and retain their current talent while growing their workforce efficiently to rise to the business demands – no easy feat for any team in today’s labor environment.?

Coming together for a solution. During the event, along with our partner Staffility, we brought together 25+ executives in the GovCon space to discuss the ongoing labor shortage that is impacting every single one of their respective businesses. With a panel discussion led by Thom Kenney , Bill Williams Jr. , Larry Katzman , and Robert "Arch" Archibald and moderated by Ronnell Richards , we discussed how organizations are sustaining and growing their workforces amidst a challenging labor landscape. Here are the highlights I took away from the evening:

• Retention is more critical than ever. Employers aren’t the only ones absorbing change - employees are also navigating a new world of work, and employers are trying to keep pace with changing expectations. From hybrid work environments to safety and work-life balance, keeping people happy is no longer a ‘nice to have’ - it’s critical to an organization’s health. Finding people that have an inherent belief in the mission of your organization is key, although increasingly difficult. The leaders we spoke with are concerned with climbing turnover for several reasons – time-to-fill, training costs, and cost-per-hire are all rising – this means an employee leaving has a huge ‘snowball’ effect on everything from productivity to expenses. From a GovCon perspective, there is a huge opportunity-cost that comes with open ‘seats’, and the ability to fulfill commitments on-time and on-budget becomes at risk.
• Internal mobility is powerful. An important piece of the retention puzzle is development and mobility. The executives recognized that amidst today’s ‘Great Reshuffle’, opportunity abounds for skilled talent and it’s easier than ever for qualified people to make a move.? The problem? With aggressive recruiters and social outreach, it’s often easier for an employee to find their next opportunity outside of your company than it is within – something that leaders acknowledged needs to change.? But internal mobility has to play a part in long-term vision – how will you retain critical knowledge within the organization and what roles are easier to speed to productivity with new talent? Internal mobility serves a bigger purpose beyond retention – it becomes a very attractive employer brand tool in the race to win the hearts of candidates, and it keeps people that believe in your mission and culture driving it forward.??
• Today’s employees shape tomorrow’s workforce.? Your attraction secret weapon? The people you already have. The executives on our panel and in the room know their employees play an increasingly critical role in improving both acquisition and retention but often struggle with how to engage people in programs effectively. Employees should be empowered to be recruiters, they know the real requirements of a job and can communicate the true mission and culture from the employee experience perspective. The potential for technology to enable engagement, simplify communication and drive efficiencies is getting more attention from the C-suite as they look for ways to optimize operations and move ahead of the competition.?

People initiatives have moved beyond being just the concern of the CHRO function, they’re firmly rooted in the C-suite business agenda – as evidenced by the focus on talent challenges by the CEOs and executive leaders in the room during our discussion. At Aliro, we solve the immediate challenge of hiring for open jobs faster while driving improvements in engagement, retention, and internal mobility – with a single solution.? Referrals are proven to be the most effective and cost-efficient way to hire, by harnessing the power of human connection we empower companies to reach into bigger and broader pools of talent to fill jobs. But, at the same time, we also help leaders address the broader talent concerns discussed in the room – your employees become engaged advocates for your brand and mission.?

If some of these concerns sound familiar, I’d love to talk about the challenges your business is facing and how Aliro can help – I invite you to schedule a conversation to chat about your challenges.