The Right People: Once you get them, how do you keep them?
According to Gallup, prior to the pandemic, employee engagement in the U.S hovered around a meager 33%. This means 67% of the American workforce did not feel emotionally committed to their work and moreover, 51% of employees were considering changing jobs and organizations.
While the pandemic created an unusual but short-lived spike in engagement, as of June 2020 Gallup reports roughly 31% of our workforce is disengaged. We’ve dipped back down, and employers should be paying attention not only to the numbers of disengaged employees but also to a potential mass-talent exodus in 2021 as the GDP stabilizes and grows and changing jobs become less risky.
We always hear leaders say, “Our people are our most precious asset.” Indeed, they are as your employees bridge the gap between your business strategy and your business results. They are the means by which strategy execution succeeds or fails.
Retaining and optimizing your key talent will be more important than ever in our evolving post-pandemic economy. Strong and supportive leadership, agile environments, and clearly communicated strategy are essential for attracting and retaining top talent. In addition, job fit, manager fit, team fit, and culture fit remain the four key forces of disengagement that leaders must address to prevent people from getting in the way of achieving key business goals.
Answer the questions below to assess if your human capital is powering or hindering your ability to execute.
Are your managers fully aware of the motivational needs of their team members?
Is your organization fully able to attract and retain your top talent?
Are your development, learning, and training programs fully aligned with your business strategy?
Is knowledge widely shared across the organization?
If you answered “No” at least once, your talent is likely disrupting your execution and the success of your business strategy is at risk.
We can help you evaluate and optimize your talent strategy and ensure that it aligns with your business strategy in 2021. We can also assess your execution capabilities. Reach out to find out more!
In our next blog, we will consider how the pursuit of best practices in execution may actually put your market differentiation at risk.