Businesses around the world spent the last two years navigating the challenges of hypergrowth alongside a skills shortage. Today, signs are pointing to the possibility of a market slowdown. It’s not easy to find the right people with the right skill sets, experience, and culture fit to grow the business. Hence it is more important than ever for companies to lead with a people-first plus tech strategy. 

Talent retention trends to watch out for

The retention challenge is here to stay and is forcing organisations to innovate their employer value proposition. Employees are expecting much beyond compensation such as wellness and lifestyle benefits and a clear demonstration of the company's commitment to their personal and professional development. Stan Choi, Head of HR, Hex Trust, shared, “Jobs have become borderless, and we are noticing more flexible ways of working”. Jessie Ann Andersen, VP of People & Culture, Pintar, also agreed pointing out that retention is about enabling people to be in the company, not just for perks, but for developing holistically. Meeting such changing candidate expectations requires a changed mindset. Vinod Dontimalla, Regional Head of Human Resources, Openspace Ventures, has stopped asking the question, “Why are we unable to retain?”, and switched to asking “Why should we retain?” Vinod believes that the key to unlocking today’s talent is to let them be fulfilled, go away and come back.

Redesigning the employee experience to retain talent

This begins by creating an unmatched employee experience touching every part of the employee journey: 

• Vision and Mission: Vinod believes that every organisation should define its vision and mission correctly. “We constantly rate ourselves by listening to what employees think about us”, said Vinod. It is not important to have the best words on the wall; it is important to have the right words on the wall. At Hex Trust too, HR solicits feedback from all businesses. “Everyone has a part to play in making the organisation flourish”, shares Stan. Jessie highlighted how redefining what behaviours drive the company forward ensures everyone is aligned toward the desired impact.
• Localise the culture: Understanding the local nuances is critical. “All feedback inputs are cross-referenced with best practices and location-specific practices because we are a global workforce and cognizant of cultures and working styles around the world”, shared Stan. Culture curation should be such that, from senior leaders to the most junior person, everyone needs to walk the talk.
• Communication: How organisations are able to convey their vision to potential candidates is an important success factor. Jessie shared how two-way communication ensures that employees can come up with initiatives and that the organisation has proper feedback processes to make sure these are relevant. Vinod mentioned, “I ask my team to rate the company on how we live our values as an organization; the employee survey gives a quantitative view of which values are doing well and which are not, pan-organization and not just as an individual”. Stan shared how they encourage open dialogue through multiple communication channels such as monthly all-hands meets, the weekly team meets, and 1-0-1 connects. 
• Action planning: Typically, HR reviews the employee feedback and takes up action points. However, this is a people problem and not just an HR problem. To tackle this, Vinod started a collaborative working group comprising people from diverse teams, age groups, etc. to find strategies to improve the employee journey.
• Execution: Most important is to execute action plans within the communicated timelines. “When people see the results from one survey to next, they feel they are listened to, and give further feedback openly”, shared Stan.
• Technology: At Hex Trust, technology has helped digitise, streamline and automate routine processes across multiple time zones. Employees can now spend more time on core activities. Great technology has to be designed for the employee experience, without losing sight of what is critical to HR.

Culture and technology go hand-in-hand

Culture curation is about creating a unified understanding of the why, and facilitating an increased appreciation of the what and how of achieving things, believes Stan. This must be complemented with technology. “The right tech can transform HR’s image by enabling to work faster, better and ultimately, smarter”, quipped Stan. Vinod believes this requires HR to start looking at innovative technology to redesign the process, not just try to fit them into old processes. This is possible if HR professionals become open-minded and creative while focusing on the end result. Jessie added, “We view tech as a tool to personalize and enhance the experience for candidates and employees, to make us stand out as a company by making people feel the culture”. Cases in point are how instating an onboarding feedback process helped elevate the onboarding experience at Pintar and Hex Start, and how revised compensation structures helped meet the employee needs at Openspace Ventures. 

A people-first culture is not just about taking individuals’ feedback but balancing those with the organisation’s needs. “It is about putting feedback at heart, at whatever we do”, shared Jessie. People are a company’s biggest asset and even with tech advancements, people still are going to be the drivers, innovating and creating value. HR has to be agile, adapting and involving policies and procedures to align with not just culture, but with what is to be achieved. HR must collaborate with various teams and curate a holistic experience. Vinod said, “Along the employee journey – every touchpoint should matter in people-first approach, because there will always be organisations who will pay more to hire talent”.

Jessie shared that the HR of today is about making an inclusive and developmental workplace, complete with career paths, learning opportunities, growth opportunities, and much more, so that people feel valued. “Not just HR, but line managers need to play a part in selling the company story, vision and dream”, elaborated  Stan. Upfront commitment at the leadership level and being able to convey that ‘we heard you, shall ensure leadership buy-in and money to execute results.