This article originally appeared in the June 2022 issue of Security Business magazine. When sharing, don’t forget to mention Security Business magazine on LinkedIn and @SecBusinessMag on Twitter.
If you are hiring, there is a good chance you are searching for a millennial to join your workforce. Classified as the group of candidates between age 20 and 40, these candidates make up more than half of all employees.
Salary – once forbidden from conversation in the workplace – is now being shared openly and honestly amongst the masses in this younger generation, driven by an extremely tight labor market, rising inflation, and an astounding amount of debt affecting this age group.
Studies show that younger employees are embracing pay transparency and are not afraid to provide other offers to back it up. According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), 52% of surveyed millennials alone were likely to consider changing jobs this year, with many of them citing it has nothing to do with happiness in the workplace.
As everyone knows, losing an employee is tough. It puts strain on team members, can cause gaps with customers, and can be costly. While many companies talk about succession planning which is clearly very important, an often forgot about topic that might prevent the need for succession planning is employee retention. Leadership teams should be asking themselves “What can we be doing to make sure everyone is happy every day?”
Here are some tips to combat these trends and prevent your staff from leaving in droves:
1. A 3% raise may not cut it. The yearly cost of living increases that most companies extend are typically around 3% and were initially established to show good faith to existing employees as new employees get hired at higher rates based on the market.
However, this year, inflation is already up more than 8%; therefore, it might be a good idea to do some internal auditing to make sure no one’s structure is below market or worse, below their colleagues.
If you don’t think your employees are talking about their compensation, you are wrong. More than ever, employees are discussing their salaries amongst each other and doing it with a mission in mind: equal pay for equal work.
2. Retention bonuses are a good idea for high performers. Offer a bonus to your employees that will keep them engaged. This is a bonus program that employees will only be eligible for with longevity. Many companies have incentivized these in different ways, but ultimately, they are usually built on a tiered structure based on tenure with the organization. Employees are generally appreciative of the gesture.
3. Have an honest and open conversation. One-on-one time with leadership not only makes staff members feel heard, but it can also be a useful tool to expose anything that might be frustrating to them, provide an opportunity for a candid conversation, and ultimately prevent long-term festering that could lead to an exit.
4. Ask for suggestions. Sometimes the smallest things can have the largest impact – both negatively and positively. With so much going on in our day-to-day businesses, it can be easy to lose sight of the little things that make work so enjoyable – especially this year with business booming. By the same token, sometimes little things can really get under people’s skin. Ask your team to fill out an anonymous virtual survey or go old-school and put out a suggestion box. If the suggestion is within reason, make it happen.
5. Don’t stop the culture. People are your most important asset, and many people see their working colleagues more than they do their own families. Take time to team-build, express gratitude, empower growth and opportunity, and foster a great working environment. The returns from this are immeasurable.
6. Offer more benefits. If you are not able to offer salary increases, review company benefit information to see if there may be room to lower premiums or upgrade policies. Alternatively, find out if there is a possibility to add student loan repayment that increases with employee loyalty. This will be particularly interesting to millennials. An extra few thousand dollars a year can go a long way with an employee.
Ryan Joseph is an Executive Recruiter for Recruit Group (https://recruitgrp.com), with a focus on security industry operations, sales, and sales leadership. For help with your security recruiting efforts, contact her at [email protected] or call (954) 278-8286.
