In case you missed our webinar on talent trends for recruitment and retention, we’ve got you covered. A complete in-depth overview of all the talent trends for strong leaders in 2023. All of these trends revolve around these very important topics, retention and recruiting. These topics are here to help you retain, develop, and attract talent. There’s a lot to cover, so let’s go!
Recruiting Theme #1: Efficient and Effective Planning Saves Time and Money
Quality hires will come when the job profile and accountabilities are clear from the jump. Beyond that, implementing an efficient but effective hiring process will save you time and money in the long run.
Are you measuring how long it takes for your open requisitions to close? If not, implementing a ‘Time to Fill’ recruiting metric will allow you to measure the effectiveness of your recruitment process. [Time to Fill: The number of calendar days it takes to find and hire a new candidate.]
In 2022-23, there have been elongated search timelines due to several factors. Most notably:
Improper or incomplete job profile creation.
- Consider what type of impact the role has on the business.
- Be decisive on whether you are hiring for where the business is (current state) or where the business is headed (future state).
- Get clear on accountabilities.
- Identify and stick to the 4-5 key ‘must-haves’ based on the accountabilities of the role.
- Try to separate the idea of ‘must-haves’ vs. ‘nice-to-haves’.
Drawn out interview processes.
- Limit the number of stakeholders and key decision makers. Work to include the key individuals that know the role best.
- Plan each interview or meeting with purpose and intent. This is a key element to candidate experience. Avoid the trap of having the same conversation with the same candidate over 2-3 meetings.
- Be mindful of the candidate’s time in process and capitalize on their interest. A short, intense process will provide both parties with plenty of clarity.
Leverage assessments to legitimize skillset, experience, and culture contribution.
- Assessments are great tools to use as data points in the hiring process. When utilized properly, validated assessments can predict future job performance, reduce unconscious bias, and inform interview content.
- Far too often, companies are utilizing assessments as knockout tools. Remember, assessments are best leveraged as a fraction of the decision-making process. Skillset and experience should be at the forefront of hiring decisions.
A fast-paced candidate market.
If you properly create a job profile, execute your interview process, and find a candidate match, do not hesitate to bring them on board. If you delay decisions too long, candidates will move on to opportunities elsewhere.
- In 2022, the best candidates were off the market in 10 days.
- While comparison of talent is important on some level, it is critical to jump at good talent when you see it. Trust the process, trust your instincts, and make the hire.
Recruiting Theme #2: Hiring Top Leadership Talent
Hiring top leadership talent is critical to any organization’s growth and success. In 2023, hiring effective leaders remains a challenge for many companies. This is due to high demand, fierce competition, and cultural alignment.
How can organizations overcome some of these challenges to bring in the right talent to lead their organization forward?
Display cultural alignment
- How do the mission, vision, and values align with the company’s overall goals?
- Articulate how the leadership team works as a cohesive unit. How have other leaders been brought on and how have they assimilated into the culture in the past?
Sell. Sell. Sell.
- In 2023, it is important to sell your organization to top leaders through the course of the interview process. Provide insight into the company history, culture, and role that the open position would play in moving the company forward. Open, transparent conversations are critical to capturing the intrigue of quality leaders.
- Be mindful of the short- and long-term vision of the company. Where is their experience and skillset needed in the short term? What are long term development opportunities?
Invest in employer branding
- Treat candidates as if they were your client or customer.
- Track employee engagement.
- Find what matters to your employees and your culture.
Retention Trend #1: Leadership Development for Mid-Level Management
Why is this so important? One could make a strong argument that middle management is the hardest job in any company. They are the intersection of strategy and tactical execution, constantly balancing company initiatives and daily tasks. A little investment in their development can have significant impacts on their productivity.
Uncertainty in 2023 has had a larger impact on middle managers, but why?
- When strategy changes, senior leaders must identify and adjust course at a high level, but managers are the ones who need to figure out how to turn this change into action.
- The pandemic hit this population especially hard because:
- They need to figure out how to change the direction of the projects when resources and priorities change fast.
- They have been trying to support employees in very difficult situations.
- They pick up the slack when a team member goes out.
- They still have their own work that needs to get done.
Make an intentional plan for developing your middle managers.
- How long does it take for a manager to receive leadership development when the development is not done intentionally? On average, 10 years. Managers need support building leadership skills sooner.
- If your company doesn’t have a strategic HR Leader, you may need to invest in an external resource to help you put a development plan in place.
Retention Trend #2: Employee Development and Well-being
This is the year to invest in employee well-being. Employees who feel seen and appreciated in their growing career are more likely to stay and have a higher loyalty toward the company. There is a strong work/life balance movement this year, and the companies that choose to ignore that may lose their top talent to a company that respects it.
So, what can you do?
Boost retention through development efforts.
- Get to know employee aspirations and connect job development to them accordingly.
- Get creative: there is a lot of good development to be had even in slow environments
- Stretch assignments (building out a new service or initiative)
- Rotational experience
- Additional coaching and mentoring
Be aware of how to support the well-being of your employees.
- Encourage healthy, rewarding and sustainable work behaviors.
- For example: Avoid emailing, texting, or calling outside of core work hours.
- Include a well-being activity in some team meetings.
- Invest in leadership development because good management has a demonstrable reduction in employee stress.
Retention Trend #3: Succession Planning
Succession planning helps you identify the key roles in your company and ensure you have a bench of qualified candidates to step into that seat, assume part of the responsibility for that role, or maintain critical relationships. Employees who feel invested in stay longer and are more engaged.
Are you investing in all your employees?
- You need to be retaining and investing in what drives your business forward, which is your people, and succession planning should happen at all levels.
- Succession planning helps you identify the key roles in your company and ensure you have a bench of qualified candidates to step into that seat, assume part of the responsibility for that role, or maintain critical relationships.
Use Succession Planning to manage risk.
- Companies are particularly vulnerable when it comes to losing management and leadership roles because of the larger impact they have on the company.
- By having succession plans in place for key roles, you are working to create a bench of talent that is prepared to step into leadership gaps should one open.
- You can also use succession plans proactively. If you identify a lack of bench strength that might also prompt greater efforts around documenting process and subject matter expertise.
Use Succession Planning to ensure retention.
- Succession plans drive development activity and career advancement for key employees.
- Succession planning forces business leaders to make conscious decisions about how to prepare talent for future roles.
Avoid thinking about succession planning as “who is going to take my job”.
- Carve leadership roles into different accountabilities and responsibilities.
- Use succession planning to fill existing and future gaps in your organization.
If this feels overwhelming, remember that you do not have to tackle everything all at once. Pick one or two areas where you feel that your business needs work and start taking steps towards implementing change. And if you get stuck, call us! 952-388-6120
