CMOs Offer Tips on Combating 'The Great Resignation'
The population of the channel is changing and along with it, priorities. What are today’s employees looking for?
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“Informa Tech has actually done a lot of work in the space,” said Informa’s Brittany Watts.
After losing a number of people, the company looked at ways to improve retention. One way was to let employees know they were free to move to new positions within the company.
“We tried to make it comfortable for people to apply for other positions,” said Watts. “If it’s easy for people to move in and out of departments, at least we can keep them here. We keep all that knowledge, that training and talent. And that approach has helped exponentially.”
Some companies have flipped the interview process, Allison Bergamo told the group. Candidates now first meet top-level executives who give them a C-suite view of the company. From there, they go down — rather than up — the chain of command until they meet the team with whom they will be working. This in-depth familiarity with the company as a whole enables candidates to make better, more informed decisions — and helps to ensure a better match.
The group noted that loyalty can be a rare commodity among younger employees. Many are more likely to follow the money than a career path. Smaller companies without deep payroll resources fight it hard to combat. As BuzzTheory’s Khali Henderson said, they frequently hear, “I love working here, but they’re going to pay me $45,000 more.”
“This has changed how I hire,” said LiveVox’s Nick Bandy. “I look for someone a little junior, someone who’s willing to run through walls to move up.
“I think you need to work with younger people to help them grow into a role,” he said. “You’re probably going to get more time from them in that role than you would a more tenured person who’s going to want to move on sooner.”
The group also noted that a vital element in any business environment is a human connection.
“If we learned anything from the pandemic, it’s that we need each other,” said Pax8’s Amanda Lee.
“There was an article in the Wall Street Journal about employees leaving because of a lack of connection,” said Bergamo. “People saying, ‘I never really connected with anyone on my team. They probably don’t even know my name, so they’re not going to miss me.’”
As stated earlier, some younger members of the workforce are financially motivated. But Gen Z and millennials now make up 46% of the full-time U.S. workforce. And according to Gallup, their top three priorities when evaluating potential employers are:
· The organization cares about employees’ well-being.
· The organization’s leadership is ethical.
· The organization is diverse and inclusive of all people.
Organizations that understand and appreciate these factors will fare better in dealing with The Great Resignation. These elements must be fully integrated into a company’s culture and become part of the environment in which employees interact.
“If we want to keep our people, we have to have them believe in something,” said Pax8’s Lee. “This generation, yeah, there’s money. But really, if you do the research and you’re listening to them, they want to believe in something, they want to know they’re part of something bigger. And what are we doing to give that to them? The human connection and a vision. I think, integrating those two into our strategies for recruitment purposes and from an employee perspective is what’s going to make the difference.”
“That is 100% why I first trained at Cisco,” said Ragusa-McBain. “I was working on Wall Street when I heard, ‘We’re changing the way the world lives, works and plays.’ And I wanted to be part of that, I wanted to change the world. I shared that aspirational goal.”
“If we want to keep our people, we have to have them believe in something,” said Pax8’s Lee. “This generation, yeah, there’s money. But really, if you do the research and you’re listening to them, they want to believe in something, they want to know they’re part of something bigger. And what are we doing to give that to them? The human connection and a vision. I think, integrating those two into our strategies for recruitment purposes and from an employee perspective is what’s going to make the difference.”
“That is 100% why I first trained at Cisco,” said Ragusa-McBain. “I was working on Wall Street when I heard, ‘We’re changing the way the world lives, works and plays.’ And I wanted to be part of that, I wanted to change the world. I shared that aspirational goal.”
While struggling against a headwind of changes in the channel, marketers have found themselves confronted with yet another challenge: “The Great Resignation.”
According to a survey by Pew Research Center, 63% of workers who quit a job in 2021 cites low pay as the reason. Sixty-three percent said they saw no opportunities for advancement. Fifty-seven percent said they felt disrespected at work.
Approximately half (48%) gave child care issues as a reason they quit. For 45%, it was a lack of flexibility in work hours. And for 43%, it was the lack of good benefits such as health insurance and paid time off.
Informa Tech’s Brittany Watts
Buzz Theory’s Khali Henderson
LiveVox’s Nick Bandy
Pax8’s Amanda Lee
Cisco’s Michelle Ragusa-McBain
Bergamo Marketing Group’s Allison Bergamo
In the second part of this three-part series (see part one here), moderator Allison Bergamo asked the members of the CMO roundtable how they are dealing with the talent shortage precipitated by The Great Resignation. How do they build and maintain their teams? How do they ensure they have “a strong, consistent presence” for their partners and customers?
Scroll through the gallery above to hear what Bergamo, Informa Tech’s Brittany Watts, BuzzTheory’s Khali Henderson, LiveVox’s Nick Bandy, Pax8’s Amanda Lee and Cisco’s Michelle Ragusa-McBain told the group.
Want to contact the author directly about this story? Have ideas for a follow-up article? Email Buffy Naylor or connect with her on LinkedIn. |
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