NZ Marketing

Top tips for retaining your staff

HOW TO RETAIN AND TRAIN YOUR STAFF IN THE COVID ERA

Feeling the impact of the Great Resignation? Kiwi companies and corporates share what tactics they’re employing to ensure staff get the right work-life balance.

Churn in the labour market is normal, yet is it different this time around? BONNIE FLAWS talks to businesses about what it takes to hold onto and upskill your workforce as the country emerges from the pandemic.

After two years of being hammered by Covid policies, the labour market is the worse for wear, and pre-existing shortages have been exacerbated by New Zealand’s lengthy border closure. The most recent ‘Quarterly Survey of Business Opinion’ from the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research noted both the high proportion of firms reporting that are having difficulties in finding skilled and unskilled labour, and the highest proportion of businesses now reporting labour as the primary constraint on their business.

Wage inflation is likely to accelerate as a result. According to the survey, businesses reported a 61 percent increase in costs in the December quarter, the highest since June 2008.

Now businesses will have to deal with the cultural fall-out too. Embattled employers who’ve been jumping through hoops with regards to vaccination policies and managing mental health issues among their staff are now faced with a large sector of the workforce rethinking their relationship with work. The Great Resignation, as it’s been dubbed, has now reached our shores and is in some respects a return to normal in a labour market that had always been characterised by high levels of turnover. After a two-year reprieve in which people hung onto their jobs for fear of an uncertain future, the workforce is now in reassessment mode.

ANZ economists suggested in November that “turnover in the labour market was likely to flirt with record highs once current Covid restrictions ease”. In some sectors, workers are now as scarce as hens’ teeth and employers are facing up to their wage expectations. But the issues run deeper and are far more human than cold economics. Auckland University of Technology Professor of Human Resource Management Jarrod Haar — who led a nationwide study at the AUT Business School that looked at turnover intentions in 2020 and 2021 — says employers must be alert to the drivers of the Great Resignation in New Zealand: More pay, more personal development, more “making a difference”.

THE WAY WE WORK

Employers report that the work-from-home culture that has become the norm in the past two years has resulted in many employees rethinking their lives and priorities. Firms have been forced to get creative in terms of how they retain and recruit workers.

Some staff members have realised that without the social connection and support provided by working in an office environment, they don’t really like their job that much. Others have discovered the joy of workdays without their usual commute factored in and don’t want to give up the extra time it affords them to spend with family or on themselves. Others have simply had more time to reflect on what they want out of life and have made bold moves to relocate or retrain in an entirely new field.

Angela Vale, Chief Executive of Footprint Connect, a financial planning service for businesses, says work-life balance and cut-off times are more blurred than ever as a result of work-from-home policies. This has led to a great deal of ‘presenteeism’ — people not performing at their best while they’re ‘at work’ because they’re distracted by other stuff. Professional and personal lives have merged together to such an extent that employers are having to consider much more than just the desk set-ups and network access of staff who’re beavering away in the ’ burbs. Angela says they need to think about addressing “the whole person”.

“When I started out in the workforce, I was told to leave my personal life at the door, and it just doesn’t work like that now. Employers have a tendency to address what are perceived to be the ‘work needs’ or issues of wellbeing in the workplace, but now we need to be addressing issues of wellbeing in people’s lives.”

Angela says Covid has taken people over the precipice and forced them to address long-standing issues. “Covid is a blessing in that way. Look at the four-day week, technology taking more jobs, workers demanding more flexibility. We’ve been moving towards this for a really long time — now we have to really deal with it.”

Xero’s Marketing Director Bridget Snelling agrees: compartmentalising workers doesn’t cut it. She says Xero has a philosophy of ‘ bringing your whole self to work’, which means being transparent about what’s going on for you at work and at home.

Everyone has challenging stuff on their plate, she says. “When people feel really comfortable and taken care of and supported in their work environment, that’s a massive plus in terms of retention.”

Retention and flexibility. Xero recently had team members relocate to Hamilton and Tauranga after re-evaluating their lives and what they wanted from it; one of them was in the senior leadership team. They’re still working full-time, but do so from home in the provinces.

UP, UP, UPSKILL

In the marketing sector, which is rapidly diversifying into many subsidiary disciplines, the need for generalists is being overtaken by the need for more specialised skills. Bridget says it has been difficult to find people who are skilled in some of the newer areas of marketing, such as data, particularly people who are skilled at data engineering or analytics and also know how to apply them in the context of marketing. “I’m finding it’s quite hard to [recruit] people with the skills to understand how we use the insights from the data.”

She’s been having ‘growth chats’ with her team, during which she explores how existing staff can upskill and achieve their career goals when they don’t yet have the skills required to make the leap. It’s not always a matter of sending someone on a course. Instead, where possible, she gets staff to shadow someone else in the business who’s already an expert on the subject.

“For example, I have someone in my team who’s really keen to understand digital media better and who’s been doing some Google Analytics training. She’s now shadowing one of our digital media team members one day a week, so she can learn on the job. There’s no better way, really.”

A global company such as Xero boasts specialists in abundance, but this strategy isn’t necessarily going to work for smaller companies, for which a course might be the sensible option, says Bridget. “Start by identifying where the gaps are and where somebody needs to grow. Then it comes down to what courses are available that are more than just the theory. It’s the application in a role that’s really important.”

To complement a training course, finding a mentor in the discipline from another business to help guide your worker’s learning and application can be good way to cement their knowledge, she says.

Mediaworks Chief People

Officer Paula Williams agrees

“I’m finding it’s quite hard to [recruit] people with the skills to understand how we use the insights from the data.” Bridget Snelling

that trade marketing and B2B customer engagement is becoming increasingly data driven, and digitally savvy content creators are in hot demand. In order to compete for labour and staff retention, marketing managers and CMOS are having to offer increased flexibility and upskilling for their teams.

“We’re doing things differently post-covid — for example, allowing employees to travel and work remotely for a period of time, rather than resigning to travel — and that’s been beneficial for us,” says Paula. “They get to travel and we retain a great candidate. They can also attend training courses on their travels or seek out work experience opportunities to bring back new insights to their role when they return.”

Along with completing courses run by Marketing Association to increase key competencies, Mediaworks staffers are encouraged to keep an eye on the global playing field. This could mean reading trade publications, listening to podcasts or attending online conferences, says Paula. Brand Week, the Radio & Audio Advertising Summit and the Mediaworks-sponsored Marketing Disrupted B2B online series are just some of the events staff are supported to participate in so they can keep up with evolving sector trends.

Bridget says that because the market sector is so expansive, it’s important to create opportunities within the company so staff don’t feel that they have to leave to get the experience they want. One way to do that is to offer staff roles overseas, or if that isn’t an option, move them horizontally into different teams.

“The gods have to align for that,” she concedes. “But we talk about where people can go and do succession planning and think about who could take the next role. Ultimately, if there’s something someone really wants to do and the opportunity isn’t available at Xero, I’d always help them find that role somewhere else in the hope that they could then come back to Xero when they’ve developed those skills.”

A LONG GAME

Partner at Senateshj Maree

Wilson says employers are dealing with a global dynamic that’s here to stay. “So when we talk about the Great Resignation, I don’t think we’re necessarily talking about a one-time thing, but a more sustained shift in the global labour market — and we need to start thinking more long-term about recruitment.”

Creating good opportunities for staff is key, she says, and secondments is one of the tools in the toolbox that can help people learn something new and develop in ways they might not be able to in their current role.

Bridget says that now the country appears to be gradually opening up and restrictions are winding down, people will begin to consider what they want to do next. She deems basics in the workplace, such as culture, “crucially important” for retention. Encouraging staff to pick up their children from school or reminding them that it’s important not to respond to emails after hours — things that support them to achieve better balance in their lives — go a long way, “because then they do their best work [when they’re at work]”, she says.

WELL & GOOD

Angela says that another way to retain the staff you’ve got is to address their wellbeing. This has become even more important as lockdowns and social isolation have messed with everyone’s mental health, and means there’s a real opportunity for employers to use drawcards other than dollars.

Although employers often think retention comes down to the size of someone’s salary, people are motivated by a number of other things, including feeling connected and having a sense of purpose. “I know people who’re leaving jobs they’ve been for in a long time because their employer isn’t being flexible — and they’re taking pay cuts [in order to do so],” says Angela.

Yep, it’s definitely not all about money. “When we started working from home full-time, I didn’t count on missing people so much,” she continues. “We’re humans, and there’s a degree of wanting to be with other humans. Purpose is also important — people want to feel good about what they do every day.”

Bridget says that at Xero, younger members of the team who’re living in flatting situations are among those most keen to get back to working at the office. “We’ve really had to work on different ways to feel connected and engaged. Maybe one of the potential benefits is that the pendulum [that’s currently swung] towards working from home might be swinging back the other way a bit. For collaborative, team-based work, there are benefits to working in an office.”

Xero appointed a Head of Wellbeing a couple of years ago because the issue is so fundamental to a healthy workforce. At Xero, sick leave has been renamed wellbeing leave. Staff don’t have to meet the traditional definition of being sick to be granted a day off.

“That’s been a really good mind-shift for people, because sometimes you get to the end of the week and you’re buggered and you just want a day off before the crazy-busy weekend kicks in,” says Bridget. “We encourage our team to take care of themselves and to take some time out if they need it.”

Staff can also apply for lifestyle leave, which effectively allows them to buy extra holidays, if their role allows for it. Bridget buys herself two extra weeks a year so she can enjoy a longer summer holiday with her kids. It’s taken out of her salary each month.

Maree says that although Senateshj sees some demand around the edges for extras such as gym memberships, its workers are more concerned with having real flexibility and competitive remuneration. “I don’t think they’re being driven by fluffy perks at the moment — it’s more fundamental. ‘Will it be good work, will it be good for my career progression and will I get paid fairly?’”

SOUNDS LIKE A PLAN

Something else that’s eating away everyone at the moment is the rising cost of living. Some wages might be going up, but most of that’s being funnelled into bigger bills. Statistics New Zealand’s most recent update to the Consumer Price Index shows inflation of just under six

“We’re doing things differently post-covid — for example, allowing employees to travel and work remotely for a period of time, rather than resigning to travel — and that’s been beneficial for us.” Paula Williams

percent for household goods and services at the end of January.

Angela says financial wellbeing speaks to our most basic needs, and when people can’t meet those needs adequately, they feel under threat and operate in ‘fear mode’, which can affect productivity. In a recent whitepaper she co-authored, titled ‘Getting Under the Hood of Employee Financial Wellbeing’, she notes that the latest Business NZ’S ‘Workplace Wellness Report’ shows that the cost to the local economy of people being away from work without good reason amounts to $ 1.8 billion dollars annually.

“You’d be crazy not to address it as an employer,” she says. “We recommend that you roll out a plan for financial planning to everybody at a low cost, because at some point it’s going to come in handy, such as if their partner loses their job, or whatever the case may be. They can access it when they need it.”

“I don’t think they’re being driven by fluffy perks at the moment — it’s more fundamental. ‘ Will it be good work, will it be good for my career progression and will I get paid fairly?’” Maree Wilson

Marketing

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2022-03-31T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-03-31T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://nzmarketing.pressreader.com/article/282213719323793

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