Given the competitive and intense environment of attracting and retaining high-quality talent, the onus is on business leaders to improve.
Usually, when we talk “talent” it seems we make the same errors and, in some organizations, these mistakes repeat themselves. With that said, how do we change the game and attract top employees who stay and add more value to our cultures and teams?
Here are some ideas:
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Start with the group you have. When we think talent and attracting top talent, oftentimes we are too externally focused. What about the people currently employed? What is the message internally regarding our talent? Do we live our companies’ values from the top down? How do we look after all performers? To become a company that attracts top talent, they need to know how we look after the current team. Word gets around, and the best people won’t join if your company’s reputation leaves a lot to be desired.
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Right roles, right people. As we start looking at our current employees, we need to really examine forensically if the right people are in the right roles. If people are in the wrong roles, this is easily fixable but requires bravery in making changes. The strategy also takes buy-in at board level as well as the C-suite.
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Train and lead through soft skills. Want to become a magnet for talent? Start with soft skills. The World Economic Forum’s most recent “Future of Jobs” report states that the top six soft skills necessary for success in 2020 are: complex problem-solving, critical thinking, creativity, people management, coordinating with others, and emotional intelligence.
The report said that with the advancement of artificial intelligence, these skills are needed by not just top talent. How frequent is there training on these skills, courses that are customized for your business?
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Promote emotionally intelligent leaders. Want success with leadership talent pipelines and growing great places to work? Stop promoting the person who is technically excellent and start paying attention to their demonstrated levels of emotional intelligence in combination with their technical know-how. Those with higher EQ tend to be better bosses, better bosses mean happier and motivated employees. People with low EQ are the experts who are technically brilliant but just can’t seem to empathize and express their emotions. They are going to burn out your top performers. Take emotional intelligence seriously as a leadership skill.
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Talk about burnout and wellness. In May the World Health Organization classified burnout as a condition related to workplace stress. If you’re serious about looking after your employees and attracting top talent, you need to educate your staff about avoiding burnout and maintaining wellness. The amount of burnout in modern workplaces is through the roof.
Give your people the skills and knowledge to avoid burnout. You can save money, increase productivity and, most importantly on a human level, prevent employees from having to deal with burnout.
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Change your work practices. Just because it worked “back in the day” does not mean that the modern workplace is an environment where those practices can still work. The modern workplace has changed dramatically.
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Set a strategic goal to become an employer of choice. To build a strategy to attract and retain top talent, it requires not just lip service but board and C-level engagement and a clearly defined strategy. To create a diverse, mentally tough and capable workforce that stays and grows the company takes some time to think through.
Ryan O’Reilly, founder of Ryan O’Reilly International, is an executive coach, sales trainer and international speaker.