For Better Retention, Try Segmenting Employees

The Great Resignation will continue to challenge companies across all industries, but a more targeted approach can help business leaders do a better job of holding on to their best.

A very good friend of mine runs a dental-health business. For the past 20 months she has endured a whipsaw running a business in the Covid-19 era. Her once flourishing venture plummeted early in the Covid pandemic. Then, when business rebounded, she had trouble bringing employees back. Some were not ready to return to the workforce or the workplace. Many more had simply moved on to other jobs or entirely new careers.

She’s not the only one dealing with a worker shortage. Between April and August this year, nearly 20 million U.S. workers left their jobs, according to the latest federal data reported in the Wall Street Journal, a number more than 60% higher than the resignations handed in during the same period last year and well above the resignation rate during 2019’s record job market.

Help wanted signs have become a fixture in restaurants across the country, but it’s not just fast food companies dealing with a retention crisis. In nearly all the occupational profiles followed by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics from healthcare to professional services to personal care, job vacancies have skyrocketed.

Despite these dire statistics, at least a portion of the C-Suite remains blissfully unconcerned. According to a recent survey by NTT Data Services and Oxford Economics of information technology and business leaders, only 16% cite employee retention as a priority. CEOs need to wake up to the problematic retention trend quickly. As a framework, CEOs can start by segmenting their workforce and creating retention strategies aimed at each. While individual companies and industries are different, here are four categories of employees for CEOs to consider:

• Clutch shooters. In basketball, certain players are known to take the ball and make shots at critical times in the game. Similarly in the workplace, clutch shooters knock down difficult tasks in pressure situations. Citing emotional exhaustion, an alarming number of U.S. workers—surely the clutch shooters— are walking out of a job in frustration (some in more extreme anger as Rage Quitters). Senior management should create safe spaces and prioritize wellness breaks for clutch shooters.

• Front-line workers. There are many employees, especially within essential industries, who must physically show up to their job. Many of these “front-line workers” have taken on even greater risk in their interaction with customers. According to an analysis of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data, front-line workers are quitting in droves. Until Covid-19 is under control, front-line workers will fret going into work and continue to turn in their resignations. Adding positions, flexibility and resources for frontline workers needs to be an ongoing priority.

• Knowledge workers. Many professionals who left the workforce did so in order to enhance technical and professional skills. We at Pepperdine Graziadio Business School experienced a 55% year-over-year increase in applications across all MBA programs during the 2020–21 admissions cycle. Knowing competitors are poaching more experienced and educated workers with ruthless aggression, management should consider training or tuition reimbursement as an incentive to keep critical players.

• Boomers. In stark comparison to recent years in which Baby Boomers remained in jobs in record numbers, Goldman Sachs economists noted in a recent report 3.4 million of the 5 million who have left the labor force since the pandemic’s start are 55 or older. Boomers who remain have greater institutional knowledge and experience. Senior managers should develop incentives for continued employment among Boomers as well as knowledge-sharing opportunities, such as mentorships and workshops, to arm younger workers for success.

The Great Resignation is a major threat to seamless business functioning and to executive leadership. But times of trial are surmountable when leaders take intentional action. My friend in the dental business maintains her optimism, despite working long hours focusing on recruitment and retention strategies. To sustain and build their operations, every executive in America should do no less.


MORE LIKE THIS

  • Get the CEO Briefing

    Sign up today to get weekly access to the latest issues affecting CEOs in every industry
  • upcoming events

    Roundtable

    Strategic Planning Workshop

    1:00 - 5:00 pm

    Over 70% of Executives Surveyed Agree: Many Strategic Planning Efforts Lack Systematic Approach Tips for Enhancing Your Strategic Planning Process

    Executives expressed frustration with their current strategic planning process. Issues include:

    1. Lack of systematic approach (70%)
    2. Laundry lists without prioritization (68%)
    3. Decisions based on personalities rather than facts and information (65%)

     

    Steve Rutan and Denise Harrison have put together an afternoon workshop that will provide the tools you need to address these concerns.  They have worked with hundreds of executives to develop a systematic approach that will enable your team to make better decisions during strategic planning.  Steve and Denise will walk you through exercises for prioritizing your lists and steps that will reset and reinvigorate your process.  This will be a hands-on workshop that will enable you to think about your business as you use the tools that are being presented.  If you are ready for a Strategic Planning tune-up, select this workshop in your registration form.  The additional fee of $695 will be added to your total.

    To sign up, select this option in your registration form. Additional fee of $695 will be added to your total.

    New York, NY: ​​​Chief Executive's Corporate Citizenship Awards 2017

    Women in Leadership Seminar and Peer Discussion

    2:00 - 5:00 pm

    Female leaders face the same issues all leaders do, but they often face additional challenges too. In this peer session, we will facilitate a discussion of best practices and how to overcome common barriers to help women leaders be more effective within and outside their organizations. 

    Limited space available.

    To sign up, select this option in your registration form. Additional fee of $495 will be added to your total.

    Golf Outing

    10:30 - 5:00 pm
    General’s Retreat at Hermitage Golf Course
    Sponsored by UBS

    General’s Retreat, built in 1986 with architect Gary Roger Baird, has been voted the “Best Golf Course in Nashville” and is a “must play” when visiting the Nashville, Tennessee area. With the beautiful setting along the Cumberland River, golfers of all capabilities will thoroughly enjoy the golf, scenery and hospitality.

    The golf outing fee includes transportation to and from the hotel, greens/cart fees, use of practice facilities, and boxed lunch. The bus will leave the hotel at 10:30 am for a noon shotgun start and return to the hotel after the cocktail reception following the completion of the round.

    To sign up, select this option in your registration form. Additional fee of $295 will be added to your total.