By Robert Hicks, Group HR Director, Reward Gateway
If the past year has taught us anything, it’s that HR leaders’ ability to adapt to change is unparalleled. With countless and unforeseen changes, I’ve seen HR go above and beyond to find new ways to engage their people, while standing out as top employers in their field. And this is a trend that isn’t going away anytime soon.
In a survey of 3,809 employees and senior HR decision-makers across the UK, U.S. and Australia, we’ve uncovered what attraction, retention and engagement looks like in a post-pandemic world – highlighting employees’ plans to leave their current jobs (where 46% of employees surveyed said they are currently or will be looking for a new employer this year) and, importantly what HR leaders intend to do to keep them.
But all churn isn’t bad churn. Myself along with 98% of the HR leaders we surveyed agree that there are benefits to churn, including the ability to bring in new talent and the opportunity to enhance Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in your business.
We found that 80% of HR leaders are looking to invest in key areas to improve their retention, including reward and recognition, employee feedback, communications and wellbeing – all noted as employee ‘must-haves’ in 2021 as we march towards a new world of work.
Employers must strategically manage employee churn over the next 12 months to ensure an engaged workforce remains – one that will help each business meet their unique goals. With the right mix of reward and recognition, fair compensation and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, organizations can fight against the war on talent, and come out the other side stronger than ever.
