As “The Great Resignation” plays out, companies must focus on upskilling their personnel in order to succeed.
This means investing more in people – enabling existing team members to take control of their future in environments that support personal growth. Failure to create these pathways is one of the reasons for the staff exodus that we’re currently seeing on a global scale.
In the US, Pew research reveals that 63% of professionals are quitting their jobs due to “a lack of opportunities for advancement”, while in the UK, 18% of workers are “very or extremely likely” to change occupations through 2022 (PwC).
"Employees will vote with their feet if their expectations on company culture, reward, flexibility and learning are not being largely met," states Kevin Ellis, chair and senior partner at PwC UK.
The trends unfold as talent seekers struggle on a recruitment landscape that is still suffering shockwaves of the pandemic. Almost three quarters (74%) of organisations have now frozen their hiring processes, Gartner finds, while 58% of the general workforce is crying out “for new skills to get jobs done properly.”
In response, “companies can look at current employees who have skills closely matched to those in demand and utilise training to close any gaps,” says Alison Smith, director in the Gartner HR practice.
In-house refurbishment
Enterprises are already taking up the baton, and the results are clear. When US-based Medicus Healthcare Solutions experienced a resignation spike, their corporate training and development lead, Erin Posnick, conducted a feedback campaign with HR and used the data to improve upskilling at strategic points in the employee journey. A one-month coaching pathway was produced which galvanised retention by 50%.
British firms are being equally innovative: a partnership between social care company, Cera, and trade body Airlines UK, saw cabin crew retrained as carers. In 2020, increased online sales led Tesco to hire and retrain over 45,000 workers, 16,000 of whom were subsequently given permanent roles with the retailer.
By designing such solutions, companies can boost staff engagement levels by 21%, and drive productivity by between 6 and 12%, McKinsey research reveals.
Retooling the C-suite
The Great Resignation isn’t only hitting frontline operatives – managers are finding their jobs up to ten times harder than before the pandemic, forcing attrition up year-on-year among senior figures.
Without question, success depends on enhancing leadership abilities, but for longer-term growth, we should be hiring executives whose values and working cultures align with that of the business.
OceanaGold is embracing this future-proofing philosophy to positive effect. The company’s three-year culture and development programme includes evidence-based upskilling in key areas, which is bolstering resilience and driving better results.
“We conduct biannual pulse surveys with about one third of our workforce, to understand how leaders across the organisation are impacting the things that matter most”, says Group Manager for Culture and Development, Karlie Webster.
“We recognised that leadership needs to be values-driven, constructive, and capable. To achieve this, our leaders require a strong achievement orientation (focus on delivering high-quality results) with a humanistic, encouraging approach…that filters throughout our culture,” Webster continues.
Strength within
As skill gaps widen, professionals at all levels are actively seeking new opportunities to further themselves. As business chiefs, our response must come from within: employers have to understand resources and requirements, then take action to nourish the talent around us.
By focusing on continuous learning, we can create ecosystems that the best workers want to be a part of, and trigger The Great Reinvigoration through enterprise communities worldwide.
At HR Spectrum, we know that through collaboration with individuals and companies who you know and trust, you can achieve smoother, more effective workflows and lasting success.
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