How to engage and inspire your workforce in a tight labor market
The Great Resignation. The Great Rethink. The Big Quit.
No matter what you call it, it’s clear that we’ve entered a new employee-driven culture, and companies that want to maintain a competitive workforce must listen to what employees are saying they need. In May 2022 alone, 4.3 million people quit their jobs, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.[1] At the same time, the U.S. labor market posted 11.4 million job openings.
There’s clearly a disconnect between what employees want and what companies are offering. Prioritizing flexibility, diversity, sustainability, and technology will win talent, not to mention crafting plans for better employee well-being.
But these new imperatives will require new approaches to everything HR departments have traditionally done, from workforce planning, to corporate social responsibility, to the technology they use to integrate staff across remote workspaces, office buildings, and factory floors.
More than a paycheck
The Great Resignation was a trend that was already underway before the pandemic. But when workers were forced to juggle home and caregiving duties (if they didn’t lose their jobs entirely due to shutdowns), many began to rethink their relationships with work.
Unless employers respond to the evolving needs of their workforce, they will struggle with talent recruitment and retention.
Many are getting the message. A survey of career sites reveals that large companies seeking hourly employees in industries like retail, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing, are no longer simply touting higher hourly rates. Instead, messages revolve around safety, flexible schedules, best-in-class paid time off plans, training, physical, mental, and financial wellness programs, and career advancement. That speaks to the fact that employees need so much more from their jobs. They want employers to acknowledge their humanity.
Accenture’s Care To Do Better study found that by meeting six fundamental human needs that employees are looking for from their jobs,[2] employers can unlock the full potential of their workforce. Accenture calls the approach to these needs “Net Better Off” and found that 64% of employee’s potential — defined by their ability to use their skills and strengths at work — is explained by those six dimensions. They include: financial security, emotional and mental wellness, relational well-being and inclusion, physical health, a sense of purposefulness, and employable skills for advancement.
What employees want
As we’re coming out of the pandemic, employers must completely reimagine the workplace.
Looking at Accenture’s Future of Work study, we see that professional workers overwhelmingly (83%) want hybrid work arrangements.[3] They want the best of both worlds: flexibility and being able to connect with colleagues in person.
Of course, not everyone can work from home. However, frontline workers in healthcare, retail, food service, and manufacturing are also demanding more from their workplaces. The Care To Do Better survey found that employees want safety first and foremost, followed by flexibility and opportunities for growth.
Employees also want to know that what they’re doing has meaning. People want to work for companies that are making a positive environmental impact, whether that means reducing manufacturing waste or working to reduce the environmental impact of their supply chains. In addition, people want to work for companies that take Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) seriously and have programs in place to address that issue.
Oracle’s study, No Planet B,[4] found that 93% of people believe that sustainability and social factors are important. 83% of people said they’d be more willing to work for organizations that can clearly demonstrate the progress they are making towards these initiatives. 69% said they’d even leave their current company to work for a brand that takes it more seriously.
Meeting the challenge with technology
Employers can meet the desire for greater flexibility by giving employees more autonomy over their time. Technology tools can enable not only desk-bound knowledge workers, but workers on the frontlines serving customers, on the factory floor, in retail stores, farms, constructions sites, hospitals, hotels, or even out on the road, get more flexibility.
Advances in HCM technology can support workplace safety through, for example, mobile-supported pre-shift health screening, geofencing, and Internet of Things (IoT)-connected worker solutions that provide real-time communication when potential hazards arise. For deskless workers who traditionally have not been given much opportunity to advance in their careers, HCM technology can offer learning solutions, skills management, better communication, and internal opportunities for traditional, short-term, gig, or volunteer roles.
Using human capital management applications connected to a company’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) system gives employees self-service options, providing the sense of control they crave. In many cases, workers can easily access HR materials from a mobile phone, tablet, or wearable.
These are important tools for employees to access so they have a sense of control. But they also allow companies to have connected data to be able to pivot in a time of need. For example, when it comes to supply chain management, production scheduling takes into account employees’ availability, skills, and up-to-date license data to ensure that the right people with the right skillsets are alongside the right equipment on the factory floor. This helps ensure that the right people are doing the job at the right time, which means employees are less stressed and can stay focused on work and be more productive. That’s a win-win.
Technology also helps organizations track their sustainability and DE&I efforts, and, in turn, share progress with workers. One example is the Accenture Workplace Accountability Resource Experience (AWARE). Building on the belief that diversity is strength and talent has many faces, AWARE provides dashboards, insights, and forecasts of a company’s DE&I initiatives — for example, predicting when senior management will achieve gender parity. Built on Oracle technology, AWARE is designed to help clients embrace change and improve DE&I outcomes through increased accountability.
There are tremendous opportunities for employers to be innovative. It can really make a difference and help organizations stand out as places people want to work.
Learn how to engage and inspire your employees in this 2022 Priority Guide.
[1] Economic news release, “Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary,” U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, July 6, 2022 https://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.nr0.htm
[2] “Care to Do Better: Building trust to leave your people and your business Net Better Off,” Ellyn Shook and David Rodriguez, Accenture, 2020 https://www.accenture.com/_acnmedia/Thought-Leadership-Assets/PDF-3/Accenture-Care-To-Do-Better-Report.pdf
[3] “The Future of Work: Productive anywhere,” Accenture, 2021 https://www.accenture.com/_acnmedia/PDF-155/Accenture-Future-Of-Work-Global-Report.pdf
[4] “No Planet B: How Can Businesses and Technology Help Save the World?” Oracle and Savanta, 2022 https://www.oracle.com/explore/no-planet-b-na/esg-study-no-planet-b-report
