17 May The Great Resignation: How YOU Can Win the War for Talent

According to the U.S. Department of Labor a record 4.5 million workers quit their jobs in March, edging just above the previous high-water mark set in November. There were 11.5 million job openings at the end of March, breaking December’s record of more than 11.4 million openings. The layoff rate also hovered near historic lows in March with the ratio of unemployed individuals to job openings touching its lowest on record (at 0.5 unemployed per job opening in March), according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data dating to 2007.
 
The “Great Resignation” is upon us! With resignations and job openings near record highs and the layoff rate near historic lows, the labor market remains favorable to workers. It’s not a surprise that our clients tell us their biggest challenge is hiring and retaining talented employees. This landscape has the potential to take hiring processes to the brink without strong talent strategies in place.  The CFO Suite can help. Nailing a talent strategy is the secret weapon in your war for talent. Partner with our finance and accounting experts and consider the following within your recruiting AND retention strategies:
 
Effective communication with your talent pool
Workers expect more! It’s that simple. They want flexibility, well-being and purpose on top of competitive pay, good working conditions and skills development. Make sure you are listening and then communicating how your organization will meet their expectations. For potential new hires that communication also needs to be as clear. Refresh your messaging to ensure you mention flexibility and work culture. Speak to the needs of today’s workforce, showing that you are listening to what people want and are putting their needs first.

Create a culture that prioritizes talent
A sure-fire way to increase awareness about something is to talk about it early and often. Start every meeting with a question about culture or employee retention. Dedicate company newsletter space to these topics or provide specific development training in these areas. What should you focus on when it comes to your company’s talent culture? Employees say it’s not free snacks and monthly awards – it’s operating with a crystal-clear mission, high-quality senior leadership, and robust career pathing. 
 
Plan and execute a hiring marketing strategy
You’ve heard of “always be closing”? Try “always be hiring”! That’s what we do. We always look to maintain our candidate funnel. Maintain a strong online presence and use targeted email campaigns to attract active and passive job seekers. When the time comes to focus on a specific role, bring your external recruiter, hiring manager and team leads together to lay out a detailed approach.
 
Internal mobility
Look to your current employees for whether you already have someone on your team to fill an open role. There has been increasing interest in internal mobility as a retention tool as employees are more likely to stay in their jobs if they see investment in their careers and professional development. Use these opportunities to upskill, reskill and invest in your employee base. In a remote work environment do not allow “out of sight, out of mind”.
 
New employee benefits

• Work from anywhere has become an expectation, at the very least a hybrid option. Even within accounting and finance this is proving an essential benefit to new hires and existing team members.
• Flexible work hours that allow for the individual employee or the teams they work within, to set their own work hours. Having flexibility to prioritize home life is a valued benefit.
• Paid or unpaid sabbaticals aren’t a common benefit but can provide a reset point for employees. Also, a three-month paid sabbatical for every five years worked, offers a great retention tool.
• Surprises as simple as receiving a gift, or paid happy hour with your team, or even “take the day off without using PTO” can offer an opportunity to simply reenergize your team.

Let go of the purple squirrel
The “purple squirrel”, that elusive “perfect” candidate, the one who checks all the boxes, has precisely the right education, qualifications, experience, the one we’re all dying to find. Don’t have that far-too-specific list of criteria that few job seekers can come close to meeting. Be open to new or varied skills you may not have felt necessary but maybe show other attributes such as willingness to learn new skills. Focus on the priorities, the most critical skills, experiences, or traits that will lead to success in the role. Remember, when everything is important, NOTHING is important and when you prioritize everything, you actually prioritize NOTHING.  
 
Expand your recruiting efforts
Recruiting firms are exceedingly helpful in identifying and hiring top talent. And in today’s market? It might just be the most important investment you make. Recruiters spend 100% of their time recruiting, much more than a typical hiring manager, so you’re more likely to get a great hire and faster. At The CFO Suite, our recruiters know the ins and outs of the finance and accounting industry and know what it takes to be successful. In-house recruiting teams, not surprisingly, will struggle to bring that level of specific expertise to the hiring process.
 
As we’ve stated already, the need to attract and retain talent remains the #1 issue on executives’ minds. In this war for talent, it’s time for a new plan of attack. Call The CFO Suite and benefit from our experience and expertise so you gain a competitive advantage in this war for talent.

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The CFO Suite is now part of E78 Partners, LLC, a firm that provides consultative, interim and outsourced tailored services in accounting, finance, and technology to the alternative investments community.