Understanding what motivates people quit their jobs for other ones has plagued business leaders throughout my career. I question how much things have changed during this time in terms of what people want from working. I recognize I may be a bit naïve, having been brought up to return good service for good pay. I believe most people strive to perform at a high level, and that helping them discover their real talents and meeting them where they are on their journey, is the most important work of a business leader. People I work with often hear me say, “There is no better success story than to select and prepare your successor.” By doing so, you shift your focus from yourself to developing that person.
I read an interesting article last year: “‘Great Attrition’ or ‘Great Attraction’? The choice is Yours.” about how what is important to employers is different that what is important to employees in public accounting. I was also fascinated by the disconnect between employers and employees in terms of relational versus transactional factors.
The majority of my career has been spent in professional services, primarily public accounting, both as an auditor and years later as a COO. I worked with clients and staff alike. Keeping talent was a key issue; there is a high churn rate in public accounting. Looking back, I acknowledge we lacked empathy because the focus was transactional, just like the McKinsey article reports. It was not intentional. Bluntly speaking, we had a business to run, right?
Today’s reality is that people are people and when you rely on people to sell, make or service your product/service, you choose how you will treat them. Remember, I believe people want to do excellent work. And I believe the talent crisis can be solved, on a company by company basis, depending on what the business leaders are willing to implement. There are infinite opportunities for employers to embrace the relational side of keeping people. When you do, the best is yet to come.
So, what do you think? What’s supercharging the concerns about attraction and retention? Of the following statements, which one do you think is most correct?
- The great resignation is the No. 1 issue facing leaders today
- Experiencing labor churn rates of about 25-30% is not unusual
- Capacity has become one of the key constraints to growth for businesses
- Leaders are reluctant to remove poor employees and customers
- There has been a failure to invest in labor reducing technology
- Financial rewards have been the most used tool to attract people and its influence is waning
- The cost of poor attraction and retention strategy is being felt by businesses
- Biggest lie – people quit bosses
How are you solving the talent crisis in your business?