As a marketing leader, it can be difficult keeping your dream team intact in the age of quiet-quitting, the Great Resignation, and employee demands for work-life balance. Not only are marketers up against retention obstacles today, but the search for the “purple-squirrel” talent capable of taking your team to the next level can be endless. To stay ahead, the best thing you can do is understand talent expectations today.
At a recent Marketers That Matter Summit, held at the Intuit Headquarters in Silicon Valley, Kristin Valentine, Executive Vice President of Marketing at 24 Seven, our parent company, shared the most significant insights gleaned from this year’s Talent Retention Report.
Every year 24 Seven surveys professionals in the creative, marketing, digital, fashion, beauty, and retail sectors. They look for what retention factors motivate talent to stay in their current role and what drives them to look elsewhere, so that businesses can stay ahead.
Overview:
- What Drives Retention
- Flexibility is a Must
- Employee Flight Risks
- Retention Starts at Onboarding
- How 24 Seven Can Help
What Drives Retention
When it comes to what matters most to employees, financial compensation and health benefits continue to lead the pack; however, the ability to work remotely is climbing up as one of their top preferences. Kristin Valentine states that among 3,300 survey respondents, “remote work was ranked third in importance this year, surpassing other key factors, like a good relationship with management, training and development opportunities, and even overall brand reputation.” For context, remote work ranked fourth last year, trailing behind other company benefits. In order to create a thriving workplace culture that employees feel proud of, it is important to pay attention to these climbing preferences and begin asking questions about what flexibility looks like for your team.
Flexibility is a Must
Most talent today is hyper-focused on flexibility and “want the control over when, how, and why they work,” says Kristin. As the hybrid-work environment continues to evolve, talent everywhere is looking for more opportunities that allow them to work from home and only come into the office when it makes the most sense. 94% percent of those surveyed said they wanted more control over when and where they worked, 55% said they prefer being fully remote, and 34% said they prefer a hybrid option. The problem is that 35% of respondents who make or influence hiring decisions said their company’s remote work policy was their biggest challenge in retaining top talent.
Employee Flight Risks
The unspoken truth is that even your best talent could be scrolling through job openings at this very moment. According to Kristin, “While an in-office connection is critical, if we don’t start listening to our employees and what they want, there’s a major flight risk.” The majority (83%) of those surveyed said they believe candidates are still in the driver’s seat of the current job market. And based on the latest numbers from the Job Openings and Layover Turnover Survey (JOLTS), there are two job openings for every unemployed person.
The flight risks are high, and the job market is ripe, but what is most concerning is that over half of your team could be looking for a new role. While there are many contributing factors to why your employees could be seeking a new job, as a leader, it’s important to create a culture that helps support your team and prevent employee burnout. Fifty-eight percent of respondents in the report said they were actively or passively looking for a new job. Perhaps even more staggering was that 80% said if their employer were to require them to primarily work onsite, they would look for another opportunity that meets their needs. For marketers, these stats are scary; however, “we have to be willing to consider where this starts if we want to retain talent,” says Kristin.
Retention Starts at Onboarding
How your organization handles employee onboarding can be the leading determinant of employee retention. With that said, retention efforts should begin when the recruitment process ends, and onboarding begins. Employers should see onboarding as their first opportunity to make a positive and lasting impression on recruits.
Unfortunately, one of the most shocking statistics is that 93% of new hires already consider leaving less than six months after starting their position. This statistic shows how many recruits have a rocky start, not to mention the significant financial burden and headache hiring managers face.
This data shows that how companies handle onboarding needs to drastically shift. “A way to avoid quick turnover is to view onboarding as more than a basic company introduction and training period.” She continued, “It should be seen as an ongoing process to develop their skills, build community and loyalty, and help new employees feel like they’re part of something larger.”
How 24 Seven Can Help
If companies are not well positioned in their onboarding and retention efforts, they risk losing future and existing employees to the competition; however, working with a dedicated specialized recruitment agency like 24 Seven can give organizations a leg up in the search for top talent.
Sourcing talent in the creative, marketing, digital, fashion, beauty, and retail sectors is never easy, and it is proving to be even more difficult in the current market.
If your company is experiencing retention pains, consider working with 24 Seven Talent recruiters who are tapped into a vast network of highly skilled talent ready to help build your teams.
Download the 2022 Talent Retention Report
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These insights are from Marketers That Matter’s recent Summit, which focused on “Leading into The Unknown,” and was hosted by Intuit in Silicon Valley.
Kristin Valentine, EVP Marketing, 24 Seven: Kristin Valentine is an experienced marketing professional with a passion for data-driven programs, innovating, and optimizing. She is the Executive Vice President of Marketing at 24 Seven, a global recruitment agency with deep talent connections for employers in the creative, marketing, and technology sectors. Prior to 24 Seven, she was the Vice President of Marketing at Cella, and before that she worked as the Senior Director of Marketing at Robert Half.
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Marketers That Matter® is a community of top marketing executives coming together to pioneer the future of marketing, sharing real-time experiences, and solving current challenges.
Our parent company, 24 Seven, specializes in helping you find exceptional marketing and creative talent for your teams.
