As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to strain recruiting and hiring efforts for companies, some HR executives and top management leaders say the secret to outperforming industry rivals is staying ahead of the curve. invest in upskilling and retraining of employees.
Heidi Brooks, a professor at the Yale School of Management, said at CNBC’s Workforce Executive Council Summit in November that companies need to make learning a goal to recruit and retain talent.
“The direction has been in a lot of companies thinking, ‘You have to work here.’ Now the shift towards ‘We have to have employees.’ It’s a pretty big shift in perspective for a lot of leaders and managers,” Brooks recently told CNBC. “Especially in some of the elite companies where people really aspire to be a part of them. It was a shock for them to have to switch perspective and go into recruitment and retention mode. as an ongoing fundamental view.”
Although upskilling – teaching employees additional skills, such as technical abilities as well as interpersonal, organizational and self-management skills – is not a new concept to with companies, but investing in employees is gaining more and more attention as more companies use education to attract talent.
“There’s a lot of concern about Big Resignations, people switching jobs and having some sense of autonomy in their jobs. There’s a question of how organizations and employers are doing,” says Brooks. leaders can respond rationally to that feeling of pressure”. “One of the ways to respond is to provide educational opportunities through upskilling.”
Investing in education can not only attract new talent, but it can also help retain burnout workers who already aggravated by the pandemic.
Henry Albrecht, managing director at Limeade, a corporate solutions company that provides tools to transform workspaces: “If companies can invest in people learning and growing, growth, their best people stay longer, and part of that isn’t burning through their best. and improve employee welfare.
In general, employees want their needs to be recognized and make health a priority, Albrecht said. When companies invest in upskilling, education and learning, it shows workers that they are valued.
“When people realize that their organization cares about them, they are three times more likely to want to stay or more than seven years, and they are less likely to burn out and feel that they can’t participate,” says Albrecht. more than four times. , quote a Limeade Institute 2019 report Consider employee experience.
Education is a competitive advantage
One concern many companies and HR executives have about upskilling is whether the investment will lead to more employee retention.
Marcus Bryant, principal at Vantage Custom Solutions, a diversity training and human resource management consulting firm, says this concern shouldn’t stop companies from investing in their employees, and it can can make companies more attractive to employers.
“[Employees] going to go out and still drive great skills and great talent in the industry, from a long-term perspective, but also think from a short-term perspective. Imagine if we didn’t train them and they stayed in our organization,” Bryant said. They are underperforming or not reaching their full potential. We can’t worry that they’ll outperform somewhere else when they’re underperforming here. “
In September 2020, the average number of years salaried employees have worked with their employer was 4.1 years, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics. The era of employees staying at companies for several decades is over, but employers can still have a competitive edge in hiring if they invest in education.
Bryant says a competitive advantage is more important than ever, especially given the differences in how generations of workers value their jobs and companies.
“In particular, Millennials are entering middle-level, upper-manager, even executive-level jobs,” Bryant said. “At this point, there’s an expectation with that age group and demographic that says, ‘I want more from my employer. I want to know what the purpose of the job is. I want to know that when I export. show every day, I’m making a difference.'”
If companies don’t invest in those priorities, employees will walk out the door, says Bryant.
Integrate learning into the office culture
Education and learning may not solve every problem in the current labor market, but it can help recruit new talent and compensate. understaffing cycles lead to greater labor shortages.
“I think it’s incredibly important to be able to build your workforce in such a way that even if you have to navigate the strategic direction of the company, it doesn’t come at the expense of it,” says Bryant. skill”. “We have to have knowledgeable people who are ready to go at any time. You have to have a culture that supports a growth mindset.”
Other CHROs said their companies have invested in education to support employee wellbeing and development regardless of their tenure at the company.
“We make training and development a priority for all associates regardless of their current status. We want to see all of our associates grow no matter how hard they strive to become a position. leadership or not. [at H&R Block] or expand in their current roles,” said Tiffany Monroe, director of culture and human resources at H&R Block.
While a change in company culture won’t happen overnight, Brooks said it begins when leaders and executives communicate with their employees and with each other.
“I’m not entirely sure that many leaders and managers feel prepared for the ‘career curiosity’ type conversations that could be the new face of managing and leading with a workforce don’t necessarily plan to stay,” Brooks said. “It’s less about where people work and more about what people do, and it’s a really fundamental shift in thinking about management.”
Overall, Albrecht says companies need to invest in employees as people, not just workers.
“There are companies that realize that if they don’t win the hearts and minds of the people who work for them, especially with what’s happening with the Big Resignation and Strong Decentralization of Work, they can do all they want, but they will waste their money,” Albrecht said.
