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Labor shortages have become the new normal. We encounter signs asking for patience due to lack of staff, adjusted business hours, reduced services, and help wanted posters everywhere we look. Some of these shortages can be linked to early retirements and reduced labor force participation; however, another contributing factor is what we at DH call the reset on humanity.
The pandemic provided a unique opportunity for people to become more self-aware as they reevaluated their lives. Many folks discovered that what mattered BC [before COVID], the titles, corner offices, and just a paycheck are no longer as important now. The bottom line is that employees want more from their employers, leaving when they don't get it. So, as a leader in your organization, how can you recruit and retain the top talent in your industry?
The first step to take when tackling any problem is understanding why the problem exists. In 2021 nearly 70 million people left their jobs, 70% of them went on their own accord-these are record-setting numbers. So, why did they quit? According to a Flexjobs survey, the top three reasons workers are leaving are:
It is essential to understand why people are quitting their jobs, and it is equally important to know why some employees are not accepting new job offers. One of the largest accounting networks globally, Grant Thronton surveyed more than 5000 American workers across many industries to understand their motivations and opinions about the workplace. In the survey, they discovered company culture has a significant impact on the decision to decline new job offers- 27% attributed it to the company's reputation, and 21% said it was because of a lack of alignment on individual and organizational values.
As a leader addressing these three concerns within your organization will help to formulate strategies, policies, and plans to ensure you are attracting the right people and keeping your current people happy, engaged, and in place. But how do you go about addressing these concerns? Let's take a look at one organization that did just that.
A couple of years ago, we had the pleasure of working with National Business Capital [NBC], one of the nation's best-known sources of business financing. They contacted DH because they wanted to identify the magic behind their strong, positive culture so they could define it and stabilize it as they scale.
We began with their top leadership, guiding them through a Leadership Alignment Workshop. We then worked with the entire team in a Masterclass. After working with DH, the NBC culture reached such an extraordinary level that they reported 88% of employees feel happy at work, and 92% said they are motivated to provide the best service possible. This culture shift resulted in NBC being named #1 Place to Work on Long Island for the 3rd year in a row!
"The team has never been better; the culture has never been in a better place. I could not be more excited, more proud, and happy to be surrounded by these great people. It is truly the most rewarding for me to come work here every day."-Joe Camberato, CEO of National Business Capital.
NBC's business is tied to small businesses, entrepreneurs, and lenders, which were heavily impacted by the pandemic. Their business literally came to a standstill., forcing them to lay off people and go into a hibernation mode. CEO Joe Camberato's goal was to be very transparent and vulnerable with this staff as they had discussions about layoffs and setbacks. He said, "it was very eye-opening, [at NCB], we talk about culture, but this made me have a newfound respect for what I do and made me care more about our people." When the NBC team was able to return to the office safely, he said, "We all really appreciated each other, the culture, the office, and the environment we created." As companies struggled to return to the office, the NBC team was thrilled to get the band back together. In fact, they offered their employees an option to work remotely, and no one on the team accepted it. Everyone wanted to be back in person, to be back together.
The NBC team was able to cling to their embedded culture as the waves of doubt, uncertainty, and overwhelm crashed down due to the pandemic. While other organizations are trying to figure out how to keep their employees from waking out, the door-National Business Captial grounded itself in the values and behaviors that define its culture.
Want to create a culture & environment like NBC's?
