Employers must talk to staff to avoid exodus, warns HR expert

Young workers intend changing jobs as 70% say their employers are not giving them recognition for their work

Ben Kiziltug, head of Northern Europe with HR software provider Personio, is urging employers to take time to engage with their teams or risk losing valuable talent during the post-Covid Great Resignation.

Performance appraisals and frequent informal motivational chats are as important as financial rewards when it comes to retaining skilled, talented team members, says one leading HR software specialist.

Ben Kiziltug, head of Northern Europe at Personio, a provider of holistic HR software for SMEs, says softer skills and personal engagement are vital for employers looking to retain key staff and see off the widely anticipated post-Covid Great Resignation.

“Performance reviews are an important place to start, but you really shouldn’t leave everything to a big annual formal appraisal,” said Mr Kiziltug. “You have to give regular feedback. You have to thank people for their efforts. You also need to let people know how they can progress in their career.

“People feel that they have given a lot over the past few difficult years. Many feel that their careers have been held back during the pandemic, with many opportunities for promotion and career progress put on ice.

“It is more important than ever now to communicate with team members, to give them clarity on their work. The feedback has to be honest. Positive feedback has to be earned.

“You can’t just tell someone they’re doing great work if they’re not. That might cheer someone up in the short term, but it can also damage an employer’s brand if, for instance, it leads to poor customer service.” 

 Mr Kiziltug says employers must take care around the fine line between their need to retain key staff, while at the same time keeping their standards high.

More frequent team communications can help with this delicate HR balancing act. Ambitious staff members will appreciate the links between the initial review, praise for improved performance and any aligned financial reward and/or career progress.

UK-based Personio, which also has offices in Dublin, recently surveyed HR decision-makers and workers in SMEs across the UK and Ireland. The survey found that 59% of younger workers (18-34-year-olds) feel they’ve missed out on promotions they felt they were due.

In addition, 66% feel the pandemic has held them back in their career — suggesting that serious concerns around their career development and progression are influencing their decision to move on.

“There is also the strong sense that younger workers have missed out on much-needed praise and acknowledgement of their hard work, with 70% of younger workers saying they haven’t received enough recognition from their employers on their performance over the pandemic, compared to 38% of those aged over 45,” said Ben.

Despite more than two-thirds (64%) of HR managers reporting that retention is currently their biggest issue, the research highlights a worrying disconnect between employers’ perceptions of what will encourage their employees to stay and the reality.

As a result of the pandemic, younger workers say they are increasingly looking for a more holistic approach to work, with 85% stating that a work-life balance is more important to them now, and a further 88% increasingly prioritising care from their employer for their wellbeing.

“The survey showed that many workers feel they don’t get enough recognition for their efforts from their employers,” said Ben. “It was clear that people are far more conscious now of having a better work-life balance.

“That is having a big impact on how people are viewing their relationship with their work environment. If people feel they cannot achieve that balance in their current job, then a significant number are saying that they will leave.

“For employers, I really don’t think there is one silver bullet to solve this challenge. They have decisions to make around work-life balance, salaries and career progress, but the first thing has to be talking to their teams.

“Find out what people are thinking and feeling right now. Many companies, certainly most companies in Ireland, will already have their formal performance appraisal systems in place.

“The informal chats are also very important. Give people honest feedback. Talk to them about their career progress,” Ben said.

The recent Personio survey found that only 19% of companies are reviewing their employee experience, while just 29% are looking to improve work-life balance.

Ben Kiziltug says this highlights an urgent need for non-Gen Z and non-Millennial managers to evolve quickly to meet the needs of their younger workforce.

If businesses fail to implement a holistic people strategy that meets the demands of their entire workforce, they will face the consequences of discontentment – and in the worst cases, an exodus of valuable young talent.

Remote working also appears to have taken a much greater toll on younger workers, who may not have spent as much time in their workplaces pre-pandemic, compared to their older colleagues: 60% of younger workers state remote working has affected their career progression, compared to just 12% of those aged over 45.

Meanwhile, one in ten younger workers say they have never had their performance reviewed, while 23% are only reviewed once a year. 

Irish workers ready to change jobs 

60% of employees in the ROI are looking for a new job in the next 12 months.

Reasons employees are planning to leave in the next 12 months are looking for a new job are:

• 40% lack of career progression opportunities;   
• 38% of poor work/life balance;  
• 35% stressful working environment;
• 32% not enough appreciation for what I do;
• 31% cite a lack of appreciation of the work they do.

For Irish employees, what would make them stay in their role?

• Pay rise/bonus, 66%;
• Better benefits, 45%;
• Improved work-life balance, 43%.

Things that have become more important to Irish employees since the pandemic:

• Work-life balance, 84%;
• Spending time with family,  82%; 
• Salary,  82%.

The research found that many employees felt the pandemic held back their careers:

• 29% of Irish employees said that they felt their had missed out on a promotion within the past year; 
• 40% said they felt their career had been held back by the pandemic;
• 22% of employees in ROI said that their performance has never been formally reviewed by their manager.

Tech sector data (responses of 117 employees in UK & Ireland):

• 61% of those working in tech and IT in the UK&I are planning to quit their jobs in the next 12 months - higher than the average across industries;
• 55% of tech and IT workers believe they’ve missed out on promotions in the last year that they felt they were due, and a staggering 74% also say they’re not getting enough recognition from their employer;
• Only 38% of HR managers working in IT companies expect more staff to leave than the usual average of 45%. 

(Responses to Personio survey of UK and Irish SMEs and workers; Republic of Ireland-specific data, sample size 250 workers)