We are now at the half way point for 2021. What a “half” year it has been. Since January 2021, vaccination rates are up and COVID rates are down. This is what we have all been waiting for! Perfect, now businesses are starting to get “back to normal”. However, what is the “norm” for a business after the pandemic? Here are a few things that seem to be consistent across all of our clients right now.

Many employers are having a hard time filling open positions. As a matter of fact, Bloomberg reports 42% of employers say they have jobs they can’t fill. In addition, the number of people quitting jobs right now is also higher than average. Surveys show anywhere from 25% to 40% of workers are thinking about quitting their jobs.

Why is this happening? Employees have had more than a year to reconsider work-life balance or career paths. They don’t want to risk getting sick, they have children at home, or they may be able to get by for now on unemployment. Perhaps they don’t like the schedule being offered or maybe they want better benefits. Employees have had a lot of time to consider what is important to them and they are now exercising their options like never before.

Our Advice:

Do everything you can to RETAIN the employees you have! It’s hard to fill open positions and the number of employees resigning is higher than normal. Therefore, you must do everything you can to retain and engage your employees.

Here are a few ideas to attract and retain employees:

1- Revisit Employee Benefits- are you offering enough? Are you offering what employee’s actually desire? This includes health, dental, vision, life, 401k, time off, etc. Maybe it’s time to add additional perks?

2- Compensation- What is your compensation philosophy? Do you pay mid-market? Too low?

3- Flexibility- Do you offer flexibility in the hours your employees work? Is it possible to allow them to work from home 2 days a week? What worked during the pandemic? If a particular schedule worked that was created during the pandemic then keep it! There is no reason to go back to the standard 8-5 in the office 5 days a week unless a specific job requires it.

4- Most importantly, LISTEN to your employees. Let them know you have an open door policy. Encourage them to speak openly with you about any employment concerns. This could mean the difference between retaining an employee and having them resign. Replacing an employee is very costly. It is much more efficient in time and money to retain current employees than replace them.

Human Resources can be overwhelming especially during these times. Don’t try to do it all by yourself. We are here to help. We take the HR burden off your plate to you can focus on your business.

Looking for ideas on increasing employee engagement, attraction and retention? Reach out to Platinum HR Consulting Group.