Many organizations are experiencing the impact of today’s rapidly changing labor market, as employees seek work that offers the best benefits – even if it means leaving their current position. At some point in their career, one of every two employees has left a job to improve their life.1 Is your company providing all of the benefits its employees need to stay long-term?
When you think about what your own company offers, you might recognize one of these perspectives:
No matter where your organization currently stands on employee benefits now is the time to discuss what isn’t working. Read more about how expanding employee benefits can address three common problems your organization might have.
It’s no secret that attending college is a massive expense, so it makes sense that job-seekers look for potential employers who will help fund their continuing education. A recent international survey of over 4,000 professionals revealed that 94% of employees would stay at a company longer if it invested in their career.2 The cost seems large upfront, but it’s worth it because people want to work where they can grow while feeling supported. Plus, highly educated employees bring back knowledge and skills that help their company perform better.
Your company can also prevent more turnover by enhancing its training procedures upon hiring. Think about including digital resources, hands-on practice, and one-on-one mentoring. Then, keep the momentum by encouraging all employees to keep learning. Continuous professional development makes your business competitive, especially as the skills demanded by your industry’s marketplace continue to evolve. In particular, goal-setting is one professional development tool that helps employees progress toward their ideal future with your organization. This creates opportunities within your workforce for advancement. You can then promote internal talent to leadership roles that are often restricted to college graduates.
Unhappy employees are less productive, which can negatively impact the organization as a whole. Lower employee satisfaction can lead to absenteeism, reduced productivity, bad customer reviews, a drop in product quality, and even loss of profit.1 In today’s rapidly changing market, it’s now more important than ever for employees to receive access to resources that are appropriate to their circumstances.
One way to enrich the employee experience is to adopt a company-wide diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) strategy, which is an authentic way to show employees that you support their career goals and also care for them as individuals. When you build DE&I initiatives into your company's many layers (hiring, training, advancement, development, etc.), you can create a culture of learning and growth. With a bit of time, you’ll see that as individuals develop, their performance will improve. It’s easier for people to engage in their job when they work for an organization whose values they admire. For the best effects, don’t just use DE&I as a short-term strategy but as a long-term commitment.
Organizations with recruiting concerns could be having trouble standing out from the crowd, and job-seekers who are faced with a sea of job ads could be overwhelmed by their choices. These circumstances create a vicious cycle of ambiguity. While it’s clear that enhanced employee benefits are an important recruiting tool for your company, you’ll need to get the word out once you have them. You might consider mentioning your best employee resources on job ads, talking about them during interviews, and explaining them on your website.
Another way to offset recruiting trouble is to narrow your search pool by looking more for an individual’s potential instead of ruling out applicants who aren’t yet fully-developed professionals. For example, those who hire copywriters might place less emphasis on reviewing résumés and put more of their attention on an individual’s writing samples and transferable communication skills. Today’s industry leaders agree that training their employees in soft skills is their No. 1 priority.2 In-demand soft skills include leadership, communication, and collaboration ahead of role-specific skills. By looking for these qualities, your organization has the best chance of hiring and promoting the 1 in 10 people who possess a high talent for management.1
As your company works from within to enrich and support its people, your brand will speak for itself. You could see positive engagement on social media, positive reviews from customers who had great experiences, and a boost in referrals from happy employees. You can help the process by offering referral bonuses, creating targeted marketing, and using various venues to spread the word about your benefits options.
To gain more perspective on how your organization is handling these uncertain times, take our Maturity Model Quiz. The quiz asks about hiring, retention, employee engagement, benefits, and talent mobility and then provides you with ideas for your company to go beyond a good place to work.
You can also download our handbook, Beyond Education Benefits: A Buyer's Guide for Organizations Who Want to Transform Workplace Education, which is ideal for leadership and development professionals, talent directors, and business leaders who want to explore better ways to deliver workplace learning.
Wiley Beyond is transforming education benefits by supporting organizations and employees with customized support and innovative technology to move your business forward. Wiley Beyond can also support your DE&I strategies and improve employee experience within a culture that encourages growth.