🔒Here’s how to retain your talent amid the hyper-competitive labor market

Q&A talks with Meg Galistinos, a partner and CT office leader at consulting firm Mercer, about the Great Resignation and how the trend will carry forward in the year ahead.

In 2021 the U.S. experienced the Great Resignation, in which a large number of workers quit their jobs to seek greener pastures. Will that trend continue in 2022?

Galistinos: Employees left their jobs at record rates in 2021. Looking ahead, new survey findings indicate that this will continue for certain segments of the workforce and become more stable for others.

The pandemic has highlighted a stark divide in how different demographics experience work, according to Mercer’s 2021 ‘Inside Employees’ Minds’ study that surveyed over 2,000 U.S.-based employees on what has been termed ‘The Great Resignation.’

The findings showed that attraction and retention challenges are likely to continue where there is a disconnect between what employees want and what employers are offering.

While the Great Resignation implies a mass exodus of workers across demographics, a ‘Great Reckoning’ signifies that only particular groups of workers — those who feel their employers are not meeting their needs — are considering leaving their job.

Only 28% of respondents reported they were considering leaving their current employer, which is consistent with historical patterns — typically about three in 10 workers are considering leaving at any given point.

However, frontline, low-wage, minority and lower-level employees are more likely to leave, at rates significantly higher than historical norms.

What can employers do to retain talent? What are workers looking for these days?

Galistinos: If employers want to retain their talent in this hyper-competitive labor market, they need to understand what their employees need from them and respond accordingly.

According to the Mercer survey, low-wage workers – employees making less than $60,000 annually – are more worried about covering monthly expenses, physical and mental health, and financial wellness (retirement and debt).

Higher-wage workers are most worried about their health, work-life balance and personal fulfillment and purpose.

Pay is one priority employers should consider, as well as other benefits that enhance the take-home pay of this workforce, such as affordable health care and resources to enhance their financial wellness such as retirement savings programs and budgeting tools.

Also, burnout is a major issue and employees are struggling with mental health.

Offering a diverse set of well-being and mental health benefits will help manage a number of people risks, including employee exhaustion, rising health costs and employee turnover.

What’s the future of work look like? Are more employees going to be heading into the office in 2022? Will the hybrid workforce model be the new norm?

Galistinos: Flexibility remains critical.

With work-life balance ranking second as an employee top concern across all demographics in Mercer’s Inside Employees’ Minds survey, flexibility is a top priority and a necessity for most employees, and employers who fail to embrace this new reality are likely to face continued challenges when it comes to attracting and retaining talent.

We’re seeing most employers adopt hybrid working models going into the new year.

What are employers thinking in terms of COVID-19 vaccine mandates? If they aren’t mandating vaccines are they doing anything else to encourage them?

Galistinos: Employer vaccine mandates were already gaining momentum prior to the federal mandate, which affects companies with 100 or more workers. The federal mandate is now being challenged in the courts.

In an ongoing Mercer survey, about a third of the approximately 350 employers responding as of Nov. 17, had some level of mandate in place.

In planning to comply with the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration requirements, about 40% of employer survey respondents said they intend to allow regular testing and masking as an alternative to vaccination.

While providing this option may help prevent turnover, it does leave employers with the administrative burden of managing the testing process.

Currently, 15% of respondents offer employees cash or a gift card as an incentive to be vaccinated, and 7% hold raffles.

Additional time off is offered by 17%. Relatively few respondents — just 8% — say they are considering adding these types of incentives.

What are some other major issues employers should think about and prepare for in 2022?

Galistinos: With one-quarter of U.S. workers reporting they feel ‘highly’ or ‘extremely’ stressed in their everyday lives, employers have made behavioral health care a priority.

Access is the top concern here, with 40% of employees saying it is difficult to find and access quality mental health care.

Employers looking to provide affordable mental health care support should note that many employees would highly value virtual counseling via video chat with a therapist (42%), virtual counseling via text with a therapist (38%), and even virtual mental health advice via AI-powered text chats, with no human involved (31%).

Organizations also need to focus on tackling healthcare inequities.

Healthcare inequality persists, with higher-earners better able to access medical coverage, income protection and mental health counseling than low-earners.

Employers should consider a strategy that targets benefits to the groups that need them most. In a time of labor shortages, a strategy for achieving greater equity may also give employers a competitive advantage.