Labor shortage is something that most companies currently face. For years, they have been doing utmost to attract employees. But how do you attract good employees? Or even better, how do you keep them? And what are the expectations, wants and needs of this new generation of employees?
Developments regarding labor shortage
It is no longer just about the work or the product you offer. It’s about everything you represent and what do you have to offer your employees. Most companies are having shortage of workers. Occasionally consultancy firms, such as McKinsey and Ernst & Young, have been publishing about this for years:
- The expectations of millennials and the new generation XYZ.
- How companies can ‘align’ with these wants and needs of these employees.
What to do to recruit and retain employees?
Salary and benefits have been used for years to attract new employees. The next step was bonuses or extra holidays for employees who bring on a new colleague. Now it’s hiring expensive recruiters and creating full-blown marketing campaigns to attract new employees.
Overall, companies focus on career development and training budgets to retain employees. The position of Chief Happiness Officer (CHO) is becoming more and more popular. The CHO’s role is to increase the employee’s pleasure in the workplace, in other words to stimulate their ‘happiness at work’. This includes, for example, freedom, connectedness and purpose.
The wishes of the employees
People are becoming more conscious. The covid pandemic has made people aware of what they really want in their lives. They don’t want to focus on work alone. They want stability, but also flexibility and a healthy work-life balance. The question that arises especially with the new generations of XYZ is: “What does this job at this company has to offer me?” When you ask people what they want to do besides work it’s often “travel” and “contribute to society”. Many of today’s young people actively and intentionally seek happy lives and expect that their work will support that goal.
How can companies be future-proof?
Surely, companies want to contribute more to society, support the SDG’s and achieve their SROI. Increasing competition and labor shortages and employee turnover makes it difficult to retain the workforce. Therefore, as a company you have to be innovative and purposefully adapt to today’s requirements to be resilient and ‘future-proof’.
Working relationships are not much different from love relationships. You can ‘please’ your employee (read: partner) with all kinds of external resources such as gifts, flowers and chocolate (i.e. mobile, laptop and lease car) but in the long run what really counts is what is at the core, the heart. So what are your company’s core values? What is your purpose and where are you going? Most important, do the core values of your company align with those of the employees and is your purpose in line with your employees’ life purpose? When all this aligns it will result in less absenteeism and higher retention of experienced employees. Not to mention, motivated employees are the key to success and are worth an investment. Not unlike any other business investments!
Can we combine a higher SROI with employee retention?
In the current business environment where ‘greenwashing’ is more and more being exposed it is important to contribute to actual meaningful projects and goals. Therefore, with a more ‘demanding’ workforce in terms of purpose, personal development and work-life balance it is important to offer your employees more than just classroom- or on the job training. It requires an innovative solution, one that FairestBnb can offer.
Through our platform and network you can give your employees the opportunity to have a sense of purpose, to travel and to gain experience at a non-profit organisation (NPO) abroad. Recent studies show that having a sense of purpose brings lifelong benefits. Purposeful people actually tend to live longer and are less sick. So if you can add to that sense of purpose it will strengthen the relationship and positively affect absenteeism and retention. On top of that by supporting NPO’s you will increase your SROI.
Do you want to invest in your company?
If you want to make a durable investment in your company, please contact us at info@fairestbnb.com and we will be more than willing to tell you all about our platform and the opportunities we can offer.
We are looking forward to hearing from you!
