How key moments bolster retention

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Organizations would rather retain good people than replace or rehire them, and strong people managers are critical to effective retention strategies. Successful organizations empower their leaders to recognize the key moments that matter to their employees

AS COMPANIES around the world grapple with employee-related retention strategies post-COVID, unexpected rumblings within the Great Resignation population are beginning to surface. A report commissioned by people-management experts UKG says a surprising number of pandemic-era workers who left in search of greener pastures are now rethinking their decisions, with two out of five employees worldwide who quit their jobs within the last 18 months saying they regret the move. One in five has since boomeranged back to their previous position, while millions more say they’re open to discussions on that point.

At UKG, our purpose is people. As strong believers in the power of culture and belonging as the secret to success, we champion great workplaces and build lifelong partnerships with our customers to show what’s possible when businesses invest in their people. Born from a historic merger that created one of the world’s leading HCM cloud companies, our Life-work Technology approach to HR, payroll, and workforce management solutions for all people helps 50,000 organizations around the globe and across every industry anticipate and adapt to their employees’ needs beyond just work. To learn more, visit ukg.ca.

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Understanding the employee experience

“It seems no employer is safe from mass employee attrition, yet research says that 43% of employees who quit their jobs during the pandemic now regret that decision. If that many people have had second thoughts about leaving their past employer, then the question becomes: How do we keep our top performers from making that regretful decision in the first place?”

Chris Mullen, The Workforce Institute

In Canada, a recent Ipsos survey reveals four in 10 working Canadians say they’re likely to look for a new job in the coming year. A separate survey indicates roughly two-thirds of Canadians are seriously considering looking for a new job because of compensation issues, declining job satisfaction, and concerns over their well-being. According to the UKG study, the cost of recruiting and training a new hire amounts to twice the departing employee’s salary – and that's just part of the story. Employees who quit take with them valuable know-how that can leave a gaping hole in product quality and customer service. Furthermore, companies that experience constant turnover can have difficulty maintaining and conveying their unique brand identity and culture, making it close to impossible to attract or retain top talent. With talent availability hitting a 15-year low worldwide and Statistics Canada forecasting continued recruitment struggles for two-fifths of all Canadian businesses, now is the time for company managers and HR professionals to seize the valuable opportunity presented by these insights and capitalize on effective retention strategies.

Tapping into what’s important With mounting evidence pointing to departure regret and the high cost of attrition, The Workforce Institute executive director Chris Mullen, PhD, SHRM-SCP, SPHR says the focus now should be on putting that new information to good use. “It seems no employer is safe from mass employee attrition, yet research says that 43 per cent of employees who quit their jobs during the pandemic now regret that decision. If that many people have had second thoughts about leaving their past employer, then the question becomes: How do we keep our top performers from making that regretful decision in the first place?” At a recent Public Sector Network HR Insights Conference, Dr. Mullen delivered a presentation that called for an amendment to today’s retention paradigm with the introduction of a concept called Key Moments that Matter. At the root of his retention insights is a reminder that although every organization is different, employees, managers, and executives occupy common ground when it comes to the

reasons they work. They also share general commonalities as they move through their careers. For example, employees just starting their careers may need support acclimating to their new positions and help accessing resources that will expedite their learning curves. As employees advance, they may look for opportunities to specialize and build credibility within the company. Those approaching retirement will prioritize resources that help them achieve their post-career dreams. Understanding why people work and where they’re at in their career trajectories helps employers identify and leverage the moments that truly matter to their employees, both personally and professionally. “There is a personal side and a professional side to all of us, and they are closely intertwined,” Dr. Mullen says. “Keeping it all in balance can be very difficult. How an employee’s company journey unfolds will have a direct impact on them, which in turn will affect the company.”

Dr. Mullen recommends HR leaders and managers build meaningful retention strategies that successfully fulfill an employee’s intrinsic need for comfort, security, empowerment, and trust. This can be achieved by breaking the employee experience into categories. “Creating a differentiated employee experience is based on the three key components of our work experience: physical (remote, onsite, or hybrid); human (what interactions can I/do I have with my coworkers and external stakeholders?); and digital (how is technology enabling both my physical and human experiences, and how is it helping me do my job to the very best of my ability?),” Dr. Mullen explains. Addressing these three elements makes it easier to find the links between intrinsic needs and moments that matter throughout the employee experience – whether they occur daily, weekly, monthly, annually, or even once in a career. Optimizing these key moments will lead to the successful shaping of positive employee perceptions and feelings of value and connection that motivate employees to progress within their companies instead of looking elsewhere for the missing links. Giving employees good reason to stay Having evolved well beyond agents of records and compliance, HR leaders and people managers are today’s strategic business partners, skilled in balancing overall company goals with employee needs, expectations, and aspirations across all career stages.

“Keeping it all in balance can be very difficult. How an employee’s company journey unfolds will have a direct impact on them, which in turn will impact the company”

Chris Mullen, The Workforce Institute

With the development of industry-leading in-office, at home, and mobile app solutions, UKG helps forward-thinking companies elevate the employee experience and the moments that matter to both employees and their managers. Whether they are in the office, out in the field, working from home, or on the go, real-time access to key information like benefits, project materials, timekeeping, scheduling, notifications, and more helps bring harmony to the work-life, personal-professional journey. Today’s companies are competing in an era of choice. Employees have options when it comes to where and how they want to work. Company leaders who understand this

evolution and work proactively to champion responsive and supportive workplace environments are the ones who will win not just the battle for skilled talent but also the war for retention. Knowledge is power The first step in gauging how employees feel about their jobs and associated expectations is to ask. But how can organizations be assured the answers they’re given will be accurate? Research modalities built on multiple choice or closed-ended question formats can yield imprecise outcomes, while surveys designed around open-ended questions risk being improperly interpreted if the people processing the data are inexperienced. Employees might also be reticent to answer survey questions honestly if they’re unsure they’ll be granted confidentiality. The solution to these concerns can be found in conversational survey solutions like the one pioneered by UKG. UKG Employee Voice is an AI-powered survey tool that is as sensitive to individual emotions as it is to statistics. It gives employers real-time access to what employees are saying and how they’re feeling. Built to draw on the latest in natural language processing (NLP), Employee Voice quickly and accurately analyzes employee responses, freeing up time that HR teams and people leaders can then devote to acting upon the insights gained from the feedback.

Moments that Matter to Employees

HR: Strategic Business Partners

The stay interview as a preemptive strike While conversational surveys can help HR leaders stay on top of employee sentiments companywide, the “stay interview” helps HR leaders connect with key employees one-on-one to head off or address concerns and uncover engagement opportunities. Dubbed a “best-kept secret” by Dr. Mullen, a properly formulated stay interview strategy has the power to pre-empt unwanted exit interview procedures by helping HR managers forge relationships of mutual respect and trust with their employees. It’s primarily a listening tool that helps managers connect individually with employees to ask the right questions and understand how to put opportunities into action to combat turnover. In a recently published white paper, UKG presents 10 stay-interview questions HR managers can ask employees to help improve company retention efforts and avoid unexpected turnover. More than ever, strong people managers are the key to effective employee retention. When empowered with the right tools and technologies, they can mean the difference between key moments that fortify employee engagement and missed opportunities that come with a price tag all their own.

(1) Research findings are based on a survey conducted by Morning Consult on behalf of UKG across the US, the UK, Mexico, the Netherlands, Germany, and France between December 23, 2021, and January 22, 2022. The survey was conducted in two separate groups: 1,950 employees who had voluntarily quit or changed jobs at least once since the onset of the pandemic in March 2020, and 1,850 people managers who have been in their roles at least six months and had at least one employee on their team quit during the pandemic. (2) Research findings are a result of a survey conducted by Ipsos for recruitment agency Randstad Canada (3) Research findings are a result of a survey conducted by Canadian recruitment agency Hays (4) Research findings are based on a survey conducted by Morning Consult on behalf of UKG across the US, the UK, Mexico, the Netherlands, Germany, and France between December 23, 2021, and January 22, 2022. The survey was conducted in two separate groups: 1,950 employees who had voluntarily quit or changed jobs at least once since the onset of the pandemic in March 2020, and 1,850 people managers who have been in their roles at least six months and had at least one employee on their team quit during the pandemic.

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Get instant access to UKG’s introductory stay-interview kit and a brief analysis of the key questions that assist in strengthening employee retention by downloading “10 stay interview questions you can use now.”

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