How to Keep Your People Around! Plus Computers
Posted by Glen Mund on Thu, Oct 11, 2007 @ 04:38 PM
by Tim Rutledge
The Bottom Line September 2007
Baby boomers are reaching retirement eligibility. They're poised to exit the job market the same way they entered it, in droves. We're beginning to realize that we're in a situation not unlike that of the frog who doesn't notice the water in the pan around him is being gradually heated up - until the frog dies.
If organizations - including accounting firms - don't start doing something about the new seller's job market (more job vacancies than job seekers), they will suddenly find themselves unable to carry out business plans because they can't find enough people, or right people, to deliver them.
The job market hasn't stopped being a market, it just hasn't behaved like the one for the past 40 years. To be sure, there have been sector-specific seller's markets during this time. A seller's job market is upon us.
Boomers haven't replaced themselves, and the immigration alone won't close the gap. The seller's market isn't off in some vague future. It's here now; the future will only intensify it.
So what are organizations, armed with this certainty, doing to be ready for it? With a fex exceptions, not very much.
According to the Merrill Lynch New Retirement Study, 25% of employers said they were ready for the mass boomer retirements. The same study reported that 31% of employers hadn't given the matter much thought.
Well over two-thirds of employers are taking no action of any kind, while fully three-quarters admit they are unprepared. Yet there's no denying the talent shortage juggernaut.
So what can organizations do to ensure that they'll continue to have the right people in place to deliver on business plans? With more job seekers than job openings, we've become accustomed to floods of resumes in response to job postings.
For many organizations this has become a trickle. We need a new assumption: I need to identify my key employees and work to prevent them from leaving, because you may not be able to replace them with comparable talent.
What goes into an engaging employment experience? Here are some of the elements:
- Communicate the big picture: Talented employees can readily engage when they understand how their work contributes to something important that lies outside the company.
- Implement flexible working conditions: Today's employees view their work as an important part of their lives among other important parts of their lives.
- Promote individual learning: Employees know that they need to learn & develop continually. They expect their employers to help with this.
- Differentiate performances: If talent senses that employees tend to receive the same performance ratings & rewards regardless of performance, they'll disengage fast.
- Manage performances: For key employees, the most important factor in their willingness to engage in their feeling about their relationship with their managers
Plus Computers