And I think we will find in a couple of years' time - and this happened in the early 2000s
as well - we will find particularly scarce and critical skills actually moving up so
quickly in the market that they've been promoted to the highest level of incompetence.
They are overpaid.
And then we will sit with highly, highly disengaged employees in the organization.
And that worries me looking down the line.
Hello, everyone.
Welcome to HR Hot Topics, the show in which we talk about some of the articles that we've
read in the past month and give our perspective on them.
Well, from an HR perspective, essentially.
*MUSIC*
Our main story is about the great resignation.
The great resignation is creating massive pay disparities, especially in tech firms
like Google and Amazon, between new hires and current employees, sparking tensions on
teams and a ripple effect of the purchase.
The war on talent is back.
In the US alone, there are 11.3 open jobs, and only 6 million people who can fill these
jobs.
And what we're seeing is that there are massive signing bonuses and new workers command premium
salaries.
So essentially, if you don't switch jobs now, you know, you're a thief of your own wallets.
And Dieter, my question to you is, is this sustainable?
Can companies just solve the talent shortage by throwing more and more money at it or are
there other solutions that HR should bring?
Erik, I definitely think we need to think further than just throwing money at the problem.
Something that worries me when we talk about this particular topic is that we are starting
to cannibalize our own talent pools, and the trend that we also see not just on the acquisition
side but a lot more on the engagement and retention side, is that the employees that
remain behind are overworked on the one end.
But also with pay transparency, they are starting to realize as you've correctly mentioned,
that I'm paying a lot less than somebody that's just been brought in, that doesn't have the
organizational knowledge that I have.
And that's doing exactly the same job.
And that leads them to then join this vicious cycle of also trying to go outside just for
a higher salary.
And I don't think that is sustainable.
I think we need to think beyond that into a lot more robust talent strategies, but also
internally to think about how do we look after our own?
How do we look after the people that we currently have in the organization?
And not just fool those current gaps?
What do you recommend talent strategies need to look like in order to combat this particular
trend?
I think there are a couple of things that organizations need to do.
And the first one is to raise salaries of existing employees, because it may be very
attractive, you know, to keep salaries low and just wait till someone leaves and only
then raise the salary, but you're then dealing with a big loss of knowledge of the organization.
You're dealing with a ramp-up period, that could take six to nine months before employees
are up to optimum productivity, and that employee is much more expensive.
So you have a lesser performing employee who's not up to speed and who is much more expensive,
and you would much much rather keep that old employee just at a higher salary.
So I think the first element is raising salaries and taking care of the people who are in the
organization and making sure you retain them.
I think the second one is really being clear and having a compelling employee value proposition
- so knowing why people want to work for you if you want to hire them, but also knowing
why people would want to stay with you if you want to retain them.
And I think there's still a lot of work that we can do in the EVP space.
And I think third, it's about thinking outside of the box.
When we talk about jobs, are there certain tasks in these jobs that have the potential
to be automated?
And can we then bring in these new techniques and technologies in order to reduce some of
the workloads of our current employees?
I think that is a starting point.
But I'm also wondering, Dieter, is there something within HR and within the alignment within
HR that we can do in order to address this in a better way?
I definitely think so, Erik.
I think we are starting to also see a symptom here of HR operating in silos - where I think
on the one side talent acquisition is pushing salaries up to say, but this is the only way
that we will be able to go into this very, very strongly dominated employee-driven talent
market, whilst on the other side, we are not necessarily thinking about what is that doing
to the HR functions that look after things like employee engagement, employee retention,
and how we move people through the organization from a talent point of view.
So I think structurally, from a design perspective, there's definitely an opportunity for us in
HR to think differently about that and to say, but how do we think integrated about
the end-to-end employee experience?
And how do we incorporate that into the decisions we make with regards to things like pay, like
attraction, like keeping people with regards to things like retention bonuses or other
types of incentives from a reward point of view as well.
I think if we don't do this, we will end up in a situation where, you know, tenure from
an employee perspective just really goes down.
And I think we will find in a couple of years' time - and this happened in the early 2000s
as well - we will find particularly scarce and critical skills actually moving up so
quickly in the market that they've been promoted to the highest level of incompetence.
They are overpaid.
And then we will sit with highly, highly disengaged employees in the organization.
And that worries me looking down the line.
I think that's a very, very valid point.
And I think what's also interesting in this perspective is that we're now talking with
a very, very employee-driven market.
So when it comes to the way we do talent acquisition, also operationally and tactically, there are
some things we need to implement in order to do it well.
And we're already noticing it here at the Academy to Innovate HR.
You're looking for candidates, and candidates get multiple job offers, potentially in a
month even, if they are in demand.
So they really need to be at their place in the organization in order to stay there.
At the same time, the way you communicate to candidates is not like 10 years ago, when
you know, you put out a job opening and you would get 50 to 100 candidates.
It could still be possible if you have a very strong employer brand.
So I think that is one of the elements that an organization should invest in because that
will really set you apart in this war for talent.
But it's also in how you approach candidates and you know, can candidates make potentially
the time for you to interview with you?
And what does then that interview and selection process look like, especially in a candidate-driven
market?
Because if it takes too long, it is too burdensome, that candidate will be working somewhere else
in no time.
And you know, they might also leave a bad review for your process, making it even harder
to attract candidates.
So I think on the talent acquisition side, there are a lot of things operationally that
we can improve, just to be better at this.
I also think there's an opportunity here, and we are definitely seeing in the market,
a trend towards pay transparency.
And I think, a couple of years ago talking about pay and what I'm paid versus what you're
paid has been a taboo topic in most organizations, and that is really starting to change.
And then there's been a few interesting organizations that have gone full-on transparent.
Now that is a very big topic to dissect.
What I think it does tell us though, is that pay is not the only way to keep people on
the one end, but on the other side, it's not something that's going to be hidden that you
can count on employees not talking about.
So you need to do the billboard test, right?
If this information is visible to everybody else, how are you going to respond to that
as an organization?
And I think it brings us back to the point that you mentioned around real work we need
to do in the employee value proposition space and in the employee experience base.
And I actually think the future from an employer branding point of view is about employee-driven
stories and employee-generated content.
People want to join organizations where they can have an authentic experience that fits
into what they want from work.
And we can only realize that again - to get back to my earlier point - if we start working
collaboratively and collectively across all the different functions in HR, so that when
we go out from a talent acquisition point of view, what we promise is what we can deliver
on within the organization, and it is something that people will actually want to have and
want to build towards.
And I think we have to also move away from short-termism, if I can call it that.
It's not just about the now.
It's about what are we helping employees contribute towards within the organization?
And what are they building collectively together?
Do you think the strain will last?
Or do you think that there will be certain shifts we need to make?
I think it will depend on the economy.
But for now, what we're seeing, you know, is just an incredible shortage in the labor
market.
And for now, you know, that is what we will have to deal with.
And when it comes to hiring talent and retaining talent, I think this is really where HR has
to have to step up, I think, also come up with your new initiatives and maybe go beyond,
you know, the way we are thinking currently.
I was just looking at some statistics researching this story.
And it was about parents voluntarily leaving a job because of childcare issues.
The percentages are between 7% in Texas and 11% in Arkansas of people departing a job,
you know, because of childcare issues.
And then I'm thinking: Is there really nothing that the organization can do in order to accommodate
this a little bit more?
Would it be a very bad thing if someone would work half a day less, you know, if they can
then properly take care of their children, instead of someone just fully leaving, and
you have another spot to fill, and you already have so many spots to fill?
So I think it's also about going kind of beyond what we're doing for employees, and really
going that extra mile as an HR department and investing in those areas where we can
really make a tangible difference.
And I think there are many more examples like that, where we can go the extra mile, essentially,
as HR.
I think there's also a great shift towards an employee experience domain we've been talking
a lot about.
Memorable moments, and I think that’s also being complimented at the moment from an organizational
point of view around moments of value.
So where's that overlap between something that's valuable for the organization, but
also makes sense?
And it's a memorable moment that really attracts me to the organization and keeps me there
as an employee.
And I think there's a great opportunity for HR here to think beyond just the reward, but
to really think, what is that holistic experience?
And I think we're starting to see some really, really innovative things in the employee value
proposition space.
You mentioned childcare.
I think we're starting to see, you know, from a flexible working point of view, I think
we're also starting to see people that are actually splitting up workdays so that people
are able to also look at some of their family responsibilities.
I think we need to think broader then around holistic experience, whereas on the other
end, money is important.
So make sure that you've got that hygiene factor covered as well.
But look at it from a longer-term and a more sustainable point of view.
And in line with that, you know, when we talk about long-term and sustainable, I think there's
also a role, especially when it comes to critical skills that will have a big shortage of, like
IT-related skills or data analysis, artificial intelligence, automation-related skills, I
think there's really a role for organizations and we've talked about this in previous shows,
as well on bringing in young workers and upskilling them with the skills that you need for the
future.
I think that is also a brilliant starting point to invest in, in order to guarantee
that you have availability of those skills longer-term in the future.
And I think in line with that, there's also quite some interest and that's my personal
interest, at least in what are some of the jobs that we're hiring for?
And how can we potentially break down those jobs into different sets of tasks?
And you know, which are the tasks that you really need a certain qualification for to
do?
And which are the tasks that someone else, like an administrator, can do or that can
be done through technology or automation?
I think we need to be much more strategic in selecting what is a worker shortage?
I was watching an interview with John Bruce Boudreau, who recently wrote a book on work
with our jobs, who said that there's a big shortage of nurses, but you know, what are
nurses doing?
They spent a long or big part of their day scheduling appointments, you know.
Scheduling is something that someone else can do.
So all of a sudden, we need fewer nurses to do the same work.
And other tasks, like taking someone's temperature - isn't that something that a non-nurse can
also do?
That is something that a non-nurse can also do.
So then you reduce kind of that job to the real specifics of what it means to be a nurse,
and many of these other tasks, you can start to give to other people and to other roles.
And that's a very different way of looking at a skills problem - really breaking it down
to tasks.
And I think that is also an innovative approach, that I would really recommend organizations
to take more.
I want to build on that because I think there's also the opportunity for job crafting.
And I think it's something that we've been talking about a lot.
I think not a lot of organizations have necessarily embraced that from a very practical point
of view.
But to think beyond just what is the job now in terms of really shaping it towards what
the job could be.
And how do we take some of these different elements, especially where it is a critical
talent for the organization?
And think about how can we almost put together experiences within a particular job that are
going to drive and motivate and engage this particular individual?
I think challenging work is still proven to be one of the best retention and engagement
mechanisms for most talent, especially talent that is driven by the content of what they
are busy with.
And I think we have to think beyond the traditional job analysis and job description and really
start thinking about how we strike these things a lot more fluidly.
And then how do we make sure that the other factors and enablers around that in terms
of the things we've already mentioned, you know, EVP, reward, etc, is in place to really
promote this?
And make sure that we balance in a very, very strong employee-driven market, what we offer
as an organization, and the authentic experiences that we are able to create.
And I think in line with that, how do we encourage people to proactively craft their jobs because
in job crafting, this proactive approach, where you do it as an employee because it
gives you energy, you add certain tasks, and this reactive kind, you know, the organization
is changing, so my job is changing as well.
So I need to craft my job into a different way.
How can we really encourage people to proactively craft their jobs?
Because I think there are so many good benefits on the one hand because people create more
inspiring jobs, more energizing jobs.
At the same time, it enables people to explore the skills that may be untapped that are advantageous
to the organisation.
And I think we need much, much more of that as well, in the future.
I agree.
And I think it can only happen if we create cultures where people feel that this is encouraged,
where people feel that this is the way to do things, and where people feel empowered
to say, but when I think about my own career, I also have a responsibility to be able to
shape that.
And ultimately, I think that is really what it boils down to is, are we creating cultures
where people can flourish, where people can thrive, and where people can see a long-term
future for themselves as part of building a story and not just doing a job?
Dieter, thank you very much.
And we've done we've given a lot of practical, tangible tips on how we, as HR professionals
and as an HR department, can deal with the great resignation that's happening all around
us.
Now, I would love to hear what you're doing in order to solve this problem and in order
to retain people, so please do let us know in the comments down below.
What are some of the policies that you found are very successful in retaining people and
in dealing with this talent shortage that we're in at the moment?
And with that being said, I would love to thank you all for your attention and wish
you all a brilliant day.
Bye-bye.