How to Compete in the War for Knowledge Worker Talent

How we work, where we work, why we work, and the technologies we use change constantly. Economic, geopolitical, and macro events impact us as humans, our perceptions as employees or employers, our businesses, and the job market, making it more and more challenging to understand workplace trends and how to compete for or retain talent. 

According to McKinsey, 40% of workers claim they are planning to leave their job in the next three to six months. What should we do to retain talent and attract new ones? How to transform an organization in a way that benefits all its stakeholders, from the owner through employers to customers?

We now know what employees gravitate to, tend to avoid, or eventually escape. Especially since the pandemic, employees focus more on the human aspects of the workplace. At the same time, the competition for talent will remain fierce there are certain processes and practices can help employers create a workplace where both the people and the business can thrive. 

Of course, the concept of HR technologies, employee upskilling, digital transformation, employee well-being, or remote working is not new. But since most people have changed how they think about their workplace, employers must also look at how they think about these concepts to attract or retain talent.  

Here are four practices organizations should adopt to compete in today’s job market successfully. 

Surveys show that the majority of the workforce feels unprepared for the future. In a rapidly evolving work environment, many of the skills sought after for a job several years ago may not even be applicable now or next year. Despite the upcoming recession, there is still a war for talent, especially in hard-to-fill roles such as software engineers. Re-training people who already work at the organization for different roles makes workers feel valued and appreciated. Employees will see that there is room to evolve and advance within the organization and internal talent mobility will boost employee engagement and retention. HR departments have not yet caught up with this trend, even though 60% of CEOs believe it’s time to prioritize integrating education into employee workflows. Upskilling and reskilling will keep employees updated with rising tech trends, increase productivity, and play a massive role in building brand value. An organization can take advantage of a wide range of learning models, from in-house and e-learning through HR technologies to platform-specific bootcamps and corporate bootcamps. 

Before the pandemic, how we talked about great employee experience was dominated by employee perks at the office, like daycare, dog care, community spaces to hang out, Massage Mondays, and the like. After the pandemic, it is all about helping with employee mental health, emotional well-being, and burnout. Factors such as anxiety, fear of getting sick or losing one’s job, and high workload have dented employee morale across the globe. According to Gartner, 85% of employees said they experienced higher levels of burnout while 40% reported adverse impacts on work-life balance. Focusing on employee well-being can stem from resignation, decreasing the workforce’s fluctuation. Many organizations have made mental health their top priority, and wellness will become the newest metric companies use to understand their employees and their needs. 

Building a solid digital culture is critical to prepare any organization for the future. At its basic level, digital transformation is a set of digital tools, architecture, processes, data, and channels. But when it comes to digital transformation, technology is only part of the story. The true meaning is to change how a company works and develops products and services or engages with its employees, customers, partners, or stakeholders. That is why digital transformations are so difficult to execute, only about 30% of them truly succeed. Leaders should always communicate the value, opportunities, and solutions that come with the change. A digital transformation should create a superior employee experience that will unlock productivity and allow employees to focus on higher-level tasks, more meaningful work, and human relationships. Platforms like Salesforce or ServiceNow help to accelerate the transformation and provide standardized tools to help adoption that aid the required cultural shift. Reskilling and upskilling employees are also essential to a successful transformation, whether it is platform specific or a customized experience. 

The pandemic has forced organizations to introduce remote work, which is here to stay. According to a 2020 report, 90% of HR leaders would like to allow their employees to split their time between working remotely and from an office. While recent data shows that working from home is associated with higher productivity, the hybrid work model will empower employees while also keeping them engaged in the workplace. Employees still seek social connection in the office, which also positively influences employee retention, but they require a degree of flexibility in when and how they go to work. Not going into the office daily also means people are willing to make longer commutes and they can apply for job opportunities farther away from their residence. Employee turnover will continue to increase until companies make hybrid and remote work solutions the norm for knowledge workers. This shift will be a massive transformation in the coming years, and every HR professional and senior manager must be prepared to support it. 

There is still a lot to talk about and unpack when it comes to today’s volatile job market. Unsurprisingly, when it comes to successfully competing in the war for knowledge worker talent, moving from a transactional relationship with employees to an interactional one, and building a strong digital culture are at the top of the to-do list. And you cannot create a strong digital culture without digital skills. 

If your organization needs digital transformation or training, Green Fox Academy can help you upskill hundreds of employees simultaneously!

Do you want to know more? Get in touch with us!