The Great Resignation: How to futureproof your business

The Great Resignation hit the US earlier this year when nearly 35 million workers resigned from their jobs, reported The Sydney Morning Herald last week – and seems as if Australia is heading in the exact same direction. Currently, in Australia, employees still outnumber job vacancies. And, despite Australian employees not enjoying the leverage of US job seekers, vacancies hit a record high in May according to ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics). A survey recently undertaken by HR Platform, Employment Hero, found that 48% of people planned to look for a new job in the next six months. With this displacement of talent heading swiftly towards our shores, it’s time for HR leaders to sit up, take note, and make some lasting changes.

How can employers attract the best talent?

Gartner Global Talent Monitor 2021 surveyed more than 18,000 employees in 40 countries each quarter, including 850 in Australia in April - June 2021. The survey found that Australians cited work-life balance as the number one reason people choose one organisation over another – however, the most common reason globally was compensation. Work-life balance also ranked third on the list of motivators for Australians to leave their current employer. This is something HR leaders must keep in mind if you want to attract the best talent, according to Ryan McGrory, head of employee experience & internal communications at Youi.

“One of ways to get that talent through the door is to give an honest representation of what life is like – dig into the culture of the company,” he told HRD. “Considering people are looking for better work-life balance, they’re going to want to see how they’ll be able to achieve that in a new position. As such, giving candidates a really good, clear, and warm experience when going through the recruitment process is important.”

Employee Value Proposition

McGrory also told HRD that creating a clear employee value proposition is essential. This should be a unique set of benefits that an employee can receive in exchange for the skills and experience they bring. Communicating that proposition effectively to the job market is an important way to stand out and attract talent.

“It’s sort of a marketing lens on recruitment,” he added. “What do we have? What is the real value in working for us? How can we share these messages effectively so that it exceeds the needs of the job market? That requires a really good understanding of the market in order to be clear about how to exceed those expectations. Try to understand the issue and try and propose a proposition that speaks to the people that you are trying to target.’’

How can employers retain the best talent?

It’s all well and good attracting the best talent - you need to keep hold of them. McGrory attributes this to establishing a strong company culture from the off.

“First, have a really good approach for making positive changes to company culture by trying to understand the unique issues within your own organisation,” he told HRD. “That’s about having a really good approach to listening, talking to your people, surveying, positive enquiry, sourcing feedback to then try and understand these issues and then making things better.’’

What does the future hold for the ANZ talent market?

There have been some seismic shifts in the talent market over the last 18 months, the most apparent being that location is no longer a barrier to joining an organisation. This in turn has opened up different ways of working, from hybrid to flexible – and people want new means of securing that sort after work-life balance.

“The industry is also seeing is an increase in people choosing to work in different ways,” McGrory told HRD. “Expectations are changing in regards to work-life balance and flexible working. We’re also seeing more freelancer roles opening up - more people are interested in short-term contract arrangements than ever before. People are looking for clear development and career opportunities. I think we’ll likely see more specialisation in the future because of that. If we were to review the last 18 months, the talent market is very resilient, driven by lifestyle. Work-life balance has a strong voice, which is a really good thing. The market isn’t one that's solely dominated by financial reward - and that’s important.’’