As we enter the new year, HR managers and CEOs face a wake-up call. Employee recruitment and retention are major priorities for so many businesses this year, with companies unable to fill positions as we face continued uncertainty with COVID and the Great Resignation – now also being termed the Great Reshuffle.

The most recent statistics from the U.S. labor department said there were 10.6 million job openings at the end of November 2021 and 6.9 million unemployed people – 1.5 jobs per unemployed person. The number of “quits” hit a new high of 4.5 million in November. An article in The Guardian explains, “Quitting, most economists will tell you, is usually an expression of optimism. And yet, 2021’s quits happened against a larger economic picture that remains difficult to interpret with confidence.”

Some of the reasons people are quitting their jobs, according to USA Today and The Guardian, include:

• Retirement – Most of the 5 million people who have left the labor force since the start of the pandemic are over 55 and have retired – early or naturally.
• Career or industry switching – Others are switching careers or industries, for example, from restaurants and hotels to technology and warehousing, leaving some sectors with lots of openings and fewer candidates to fill them. Not surprisingly, given the stress on educators over the past two years, teachers are most likely to leave the labor force as compared to their counterparts in other industries.
• Work-life balance – Thirteen percent of workers said they quit because their jobs didn’t provide work-life balance.
• Care insecurity – Related to work-life balance, mothers with college degrees and telework-compatible jobs were more likely to exit the labor force and more likely to be on leave than women without children. One of the underlying reasons is an unequal distribution of labor at home and a critical degree of burnout contributing to “care insecurity.” Care insecurity is defined as uncertainty about daycare and school schedules that are unpredictably interrupted by periods of quarantine prompted by exposure to COVID.
• Entrepreneurship – One-third of workers quit jobs to launch businesses. This may be either necessity- or innovation-based entrepreneurs.

The short-term outlook for the labor market suggests workers are likely to continue to have considerable bargaining power in 2022, says Indeed in its 2022 Labor Market Outlook report. But interestingly, job seekers remain hesitant. Active job search – that is, people taking specific steps to land work, like responding to job ads – hasn’t budged since the summer.

Where does all of this leave employers as they seek to recruit solid candidates to fill open positions?

Recruiting During a Time of Resentment

From the conversations I’ve had with friends, family, and colleagues recently, businesses that are hiring aren’t doing themselves any favors. Too many companies are approaching recruiting without empathy making it difficult to recruit good people. At the same time, prospective employees are hesitant and may have negative experiences with previous employers. Maybe it’s time for HR Managers to take a step back and look at their hiring processes.

You’re essentially recruiting during a time of resentment. People are disheartened, they’re tired, they’re sick of COVID, and at times sick from COVID. They may be working in an industry, such as healthcare, teaching, hospitality, or retail, where they are on the front lines every day and are looking for something different and less stressful. On the other hand, many office workers have the advantage of being able to work remotely, but that has its challenges as well. Are they being supported and mentored? Are they learning and growing? If this is going to be the new normal – rather than just a phase to get through – are you fully invested in making it successful?

New recruits will be precious resources in your company. Do you understand how to communicate effectively and listen to their thoughts and ideas?

5 Tips for Hiring and Retaining Employees with Empathy

Here’s a collection of tips for hiring with empathy. I believe that companies who approach their hiring process this way demonstrate to recruits that they support their employees and provide a positive work environment. Empathy then needs to be reflected in the workplace to retain your talent.

1. Stop Ghosting Prospects

Maybe this should be common sense, but it’s not. If a candidate has taken the time to interview with you, they at least deserve a response – positive or negative. And a candidate who may not be right for a specific position today may be worth connecting with in the future, so keep that door open. Although many companies are using recruiting technology to automate the hiring process, we need to remember that there are real people behind each resume.

Fifty-two percent of job hunters say a lack of response from employers is their biggest frustration, according to Websolutions. In the current hiring environment, candidates have higher expectations for proactive, transparent, and frequent communications from employers. This needs to be communicated from the heads of HR to all the hiring managers involved in the process. If your current screening process is handled by a bot, you could be losing out to great people including referrals from current employees.

2. Prioritize Soft Skills

LinkedIn’s Global Talent Trends survey shows that bad hires are almost never a matter of hard skills alone. Prioritize soft skills – such as creativity, persuasion, collaboration, adaptability, and time management – in your hiring process. Although hard skills certainly matter, most hiring and firing decisions come down to soft skills.

 Part of the issue is that soft skills are more difficult to evaluate than hard skills. You can reasonably determine if a programmer has the right coding skills, or a translator has the right language skills, to perform adequately in their jobs. However, identifying poor soft skills is much harder, which is why this is often discovered too late, after a hire has been made.

Source: LinkedIn

3. Fully support Flexibility and Remote Work

Pre-pandemic, businesses expected that in five years 38% of their remote workforce would be fully remote, while today they expect 58% to be fully remote in five years, says Upwork in its Future Workforce report.

Career Builder adds that 35% of job seekers say they will turn down an offer if the employer does not offer a remote work option. The pandemic has forced the issue of remote work and flexible work schedules, making it a priority for employees. As companies consider return-to-the-office policies, they must realize there has been a mindset shift for many employees, and flexibility is now valued more than ever. It may be better for business too.

An Airtasker survey shows on average, remote employees work 1.4 more days every month, or 16.8 more days every year, than those who work in an office – and on workdays, they spend more time getting things done. Many workers are more productive and less stressed in a work-from-home environment since there is no commute, less water cooler talk, and more opportunity to fit exercise into their daily routine.

Source: Airtasker

4. Hire People You want to Coach

As a certified, professional coach, I spend time coaching people on energy leadership, and how you “show up” truly matters. Are you hiring people who will show up with an positive attitude and a mindset to think out of the box, bring all their creative skills, and work as a team?

Companies need to look at their interviewing process in a couple of ways. Are they looking to find the perfect candidate, or can they hire for aptitude and attitude? If they can identify the right aptitude and attitude, will the company culture embrace that and provide the training to help them grow? You may want to map out your hiring process from the humanistic viewpoint.

5. Listen to People to Retain Them

Once you’ve hired good people, you need to work hard to keep them. According to a recent Fast Company article, 2022 will be a key year for companies to live up to their promises to employees, or risk losing them. The best way to retain workers includes listening to their needs, accommodating their different work styles, and addressing inequities.

One member of the Fast Company Impact Council, Angie Klein, CEO of Visible, predicts, “We’re going to see a pretty big shift from talking about The Great Resignation to ‘The Great Retention,’ with [companies] focused on doing what it takes to keep talent. Employees aren’t really leaving because they’re unsatisfied—some are—but because they want to see what’s out there at a time when it seems far less risky to do so. Putting in proactive-retention measures while ensuring that we manage to drive meaning and purpose—there will be a heavy focus in retention like we have never seen before in corporate America.”

One employee retention tool that is gaining popularity is the “Stay Interview,” where a manager sits down with an employee to explore what it takes them to stay at the company. Ideally, these are regularly occurring conversations, built on a foundation of trust, where the employer doesn’t only focus on the job, but the individual’s professional and life goals.

Conclusion

Recruiting and retention are always challenging, but our current environment makes it even more so. However, I don’t believe the number of jobs out there is the reason you can’t find good people. I believe the primary issue is that companies are not putting the proper emphasis on recruiting and retaining talent, including a humanistic approach.

To find the right people, you may want to look at your processes and see if you can create a more empathetic way to attract and keep the best people.