Employers Can Do These 3 Things To Attract And Retain The Workforce Of Today
MONCTON – Robyn Tingley, the founder of GlassSKY Inc., started the Workforce Summit 20/20 in Moncton by highlighting the need to embrace change – in the way we work, and in the kinds of people we work with.
“It’s all about people,” she said. “We need to connect with our people in a different way.”
With an early morning speech, Tingley helped set the tone for the conference that seeks to help employers in the region to tackle labour force challenges.
She says discussions about the changes that needs to happen due to demographic challenges have been happening for years, but things aren’t changing fast enough.
Industry and citizens in New Brunswick should take leadership and not wait for government to make changes, and sectors need to be connected strategically to speed up changes, she said.
“We’re going to have to get much better at working together in this province,” she said. “Beyond working together, I think we’re going to have to be disruptive. We’re going to have to agitate for change.”
She notes three things that employers and employees can work on.
1. Tell Better Stories
“Celebrate more of what we want to see – whether that’s diversity in our organization, whether that’s business ownership in our community, whether that’s young workers who have succeeded, they come here and put down roots.”
As younger workers are increasingly looking for a workplace that serves a higher purpose, companies need to tell the stories of their impact better.
“Ninety per cent of of millennials want to work for an organization that does well for people and planet, and 23 per cent of them will take a pay cut to do so. It matters deeply,” she said. “Another thing we need to do is anoint new story tellers. We need to hear from new voices. We need to make space on our stages for new voices.”
2. Challenge Outdated Models
“The stuff that works for the boomers…it’s not working anymore. Eighteen per cent of the general population will change jobs every two, three years anyway. It’s 42 per cent for millennials. They’ll have seven different jobs in the first 10 years out of school. And that churn does not come cheap,” she said, adding that the top thing that young workers and women want – the two fastest growing groups in the workplace – is flexibility.
Companies should also dig into their analytics when it comes to compensation, turnover, connectedness, etc. They can look to progressive employers for new ways to compensate workers, and take real steps to invest in employees’ mental health.
“Companies, we’re going to use our money differently. To help with student debt. To hire on-site counselors. And to invest in things like cross-cultural training.”
The narrative of the “lazy and entitled” young worker also needs to change since younger generations face very different realities.
“We can’t afford to take one young New Brunswicker for granted whether they were born here or whether they arrived here yesterday.”
3. Create A Sense of Belonging
It’s a good start if employers are looking at making their talent pipeline more diverse, but they also need to ensure the workplace is inclusive and minorities can fully contribute. One way to do that is by bringing in training on unconscious bias – stereotypes about certain groups of people that individuals form without being aware.
“If every employer in New Brunswick tomorrow just says, ‘we’re going to focus on unconscious bias, we’re going to illuminate some of the ways that we’re keeping people out that we didn’t even realize that we were.’ That is our newcomers, our women, people with different abilities, it’s right across the spectrum.”