Retaining talent in the age of disruption
Written by
- Redaction Team
- Business Planning, Entrepreneurship
Retaining talent has become more challenging over the last few years in the context of societal uncertainties and continuous change.
You’re running a business in a time of innovation and digital disruption, so you have to come up with ingenious solutions if you want to keep up with the shifts in workforce demographics and retain valuable talent, which honestly often makes or breaks an organization.
The latest technological advancements and the level of disruption globalization has generated lately have brought both advantages and challenges for the business community, which naturally leads to uncertainty about where organizations are heading. Particularly, talent retention has become a competitive job, even among well-established companies. Additionally, the gig economy has disrupted top talent retention as more professionals have started seeking freelance opportunities.
How can business runners handle the shift in employment? Is there anything they can do to retain talent in the present shifting labor market?
There are no simple answers to these questions, but the companies that align their priorities with talent’s requirements and priorities have greater chances to succeed. Here are some areas they should focus on.
Embrace and promote flexibility
Sometimes retaining your employees is as simple as showing them that you care for their wellbeing. Encouraging them to find a suitable balance between their professional and personal life will prove that they work in a company that prioritizes its workforce.
Flexibility is in great search among candidates, especially young talent who find it challenging to adapt to traditional work schemes. Therefore, if you want to compete with the gig economy, you should provide your workforce with the same benefits freelance jobs do. Think about how your employees can be afforded work independence to meet their personal and work commitments. A flexible environment allows talent to work outside typical business hours, change their schedules seasonally, and work remotely.
Keep in mind that the gig economy has been skyrocketing lately, and it’s vital to examine what flexibility means for your talent to prevent them from leaving your organization.
Hire young talent
Every employer seems to look for experience these days, but experience often comes with a price many organizations don’t want to pay. Experienced talent finds it more challenging to adapt to new work cultures; they come with a set of values they adhere to and aren’t willing to adopt new ones. Young talent, on the other hand, is more open to new and will easily adopt work values if they resonate with their beliefs. So, during recruitment, you could cast your net wider and search for younger candidates that might lack experience but have the necessary skills to fill your open positions. Go even a step further, recruit candidates while they are in school so you can save money and train them at the workplace. Entry-level candidates will require a lower salary, and you can use resources to qualify them in-house.
Train and retrain your talent
You already know that finding the right professional for the job is quite difficult, so once you find the ideal worker for your position, you should do everything to keep them. Training and retraining play crucial roles because they keep your employees satisfied and loyal. And satisfied and loyal employees don’t look for other jobs. You boost people’s loyalty by providing them with the necessary tools for doing their jobs and offering them various pathways to advance in their careers within your organization. 70% of workers consider working for another business if it would provide them with training and development opportunities. Also, 86% of them would stay with their current employer if they would benefit from the same opportunities. When you enroll your team in training programs, you win.
Set up an ISO 9001 system
Companies of all sizes benefit from ISO 9001 certification because it ensures the long-term quality and sustainability of the management system. Young talent researches employers before applying for open positions as they prefer to work for companies that are up to date with the latest advancements and have the highest possible level of certification. Proving that you have an ISO 9001 compliant quality management system makes them trust your company and provide you with competitive advantage. The system will also help you retain current employees as they will receive the necessary training to gain knowledge about how to implement it, and as mentioned before, employees value training more than other work benefits. Your management team plays an essential role in the process and should stay connected with the employees throughout the process to ensure they accommodate the changes.
Purpose is vital for company success
All the above solutions are effective when it comes to retaining talent, but this last one would enable you to step up your game. Providing your team with a clear sense of purpose helps them navigate the challenges they might experience at work daily and overcome the issues caused by industry disruption. Purpose should stay at the base of all your initiatives and projects and guide your strategy shifts.
Research shows that purpose-minded teams deliver successful projects, engage in business transformation, and retain talent more effectively. Unfortunately, most organizations neglect to identify their purpose and infuse their strategies with it.
Regular and transparent communication enables you to achieve your goals because it helps your employees understand where the company is heading and what their role is in the process. Your workforce is one of the most important assets of your organization, and your employees are the strongest advocates when it comes to recruiting new talent. Learn to use this to your advantage!
Parting words
With 2025 just around the corner, the importance of talent retention cannot be overstated. Companies must prioritize attracting and retaining top talent so they can achieve sustainable growth and remain competitive in the industry. The above recommendations provide a competitive edge to any company, regardless of the sector, and enable it to create an adaptable and resilient workforce.
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