We’ve been attracting and retaining talent the wrong way for decades.
Traditionally, we entice prospective employees with stories about what it’s like to work for our company. We share perks and promises to get them to accept the job.
No one starts out hating their job. New employees are excited to jump in and work for the company.
But over time, that excitement wanes. Outdated workplace practices, negative employee experiences, office politics, and red tape pull employees away from the connection they initially felt with the company. When that happens, the organization does an employee engagement survey, sees low scores, and goes to HR to introduce a new perk. Leaders think something trivial like free lunch once a week will solve all their problems and roll it out with great fanfare to employees.
And at first, it works! Employees are happy with something new, and their job satisfaction goes up. But over time, the enthusiasm wears off. They realize those outdated workplace practices and negative employee experiences are still there, and their satisfaction drops.
That’s when the company does another employee engagement survey and introduces a new perk. It’s a vicious cycle that doesn’t actually do anything meaningful to change how work gets done.
Too many organizations view employee engagement as an adrenaline shot. They distract employees about what it’s like to work for the company instead of actually making the company a better place to work and creating an environment where people want, not need, to come to work.
To effectively attract and retain talent, companies need to focus on making lasting and substantive changes in three core areas: culture, technology, and physical space. It’s not about the surface-level perks–it’s about changing core workplace practices that keep employees engaged and connected to the work.
I put together a video which talks about this in more detail. Please check it out below and if you want more content like this you can subscribe to my Youtube channel.
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This episode is sponsored by Workplace from Meta.
Workplace is a business communication tool from Meta. Think Facebook, but for your company.
It’s part of Meta’s vision for the future of work. A future in which we’ll all feel more present, connected and productive.
Start your journey into the future of work at workplace.com/future.
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Fast-track your path to leadership success with The Future of Work Plus. I can’t wait for you to hear all the content we have in store!
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