THE WAR FOR TALENT IS HERE. IS YOUR WORKPLACE READY?

Change the way the world works

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The war for talent is on. With an unprecedented economic recovery, the marketplace for talent is becoming more competitive by the day. It’s created a paradigm shift in business where the knowledge worker has become far more critical and in greater demand. Today’s companies are battling harder than ever to win top-shelf knowledge workers who are positioned to create greater value. To lead in your industry, you must create a culture today that attracts, inspires, and retains this higher caliber of top talent.

Discover what’s escalating the war for talent, the implications to your business, and how you can build a future-focused company and a culture that continuously keeps employees motivated and engaged.

Brainpower: The competitive edge.

Welcome to the knowledge economy. Today, companies that employ the most skilled, forward-thinking people tend to rise to the top, and do so quickly. Think Google, Facebook, Tesla. These companies tapped into the intellectual power of extraordinary people to create businesses that changed the way the world thinks, interacts, and moves forward. It was their people who created their pathway to success.

The knowledge worker has become every company’s true competitive advantage. In most industries (especially finance, technology, professional services, and energy), it’s the unique, honed, and tested skills of the knowledge worker that set ordinary and extraordinary companies apart. Organizations that don’t boast a roster of top tier employees are destined to watch their competitors pass them by.

There’s a skills shortage going on. It will impact your business (if it hasn’t already).

For today’s employers, the dynamics of the marketplace for talent have changed. Recruiting top talent is more difficult than ever as businesses rush to fill 60 percent of new jobs with skills that only 20 percent of the population possesses.1 The U.S., as a result, is suffering from a shortfall of about six million qualified workers2 and growing, creating a major obstacle when it comes to recruiting top talent.

Organizations that don’t boast a roster of top tier employees are destined to watch their competitors pass them by.

number of employers that have difficulty finding people with the right skills

31%

THE WAR FOR TALENT IS HERE: IS YOUR WORKPLACE READY?2

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Boomers are retiring at a rate of 10,000/day, taking years of experience, knowledge, and workplace acumen along with them.

By the time they retire, over half of Boomers have been with their employers for 10+ years. Millennials have an average tenure of 3.2 years or less.

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

In fact, 39 percent of U.S. employers have difficulty finding people with the right skills,3 with some positions like accounting, IT, and engineers even harder to recruit. Finding, retaining, and developing quality talent has become the world’s number one business challenge.4

Enter the Millennials. Exit the Boomers.

The talent shortage is exacerbated by a marked “changing of the guard,” as one of the most enduring generations makes way for the next. Boomers are retiring from the workforce at a rate of 10,000 per day,5 and they’re taking years of experience, knowledge, and workplace acumen with them. That leaves the workforce with a higher percentage of Millennials who may be the most educated generation in history, but are also the least experienced, making it difficult to recruit employees with the cutting-edge skills and “no-ramp-up” experience em-ployers need.

Low unemployment makes finding talent tough.

On the flip side, this younger workforce is entering the best job market in five years. The unemployment rate has dropped to 6.6 percent from a recession-era high of 10 percent in October 2009.6 The number of available jobs has increased by more than 73 percent from July 2009, opening up some 3.8 million opportunities nationwide.7

Unemployment Levels Since 2009

The low unemployment rate makes for a tough talent market for businesses. And when it comes to the country’s highest-potential workers, they’re even harder to recruit. For college graduates, the unemployment rate sits at a staggeringly low 3.2 percent and dropping,8 making it that much more difficult for employers to find the top talent they need to stay competitive.

Source: U.S. Labor Department

4%

6%

8%

10%

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Unemployment rate(Age group: 16+)

THE WAR FOR TALENT IS HERE: IS YOUR WORKPLACE READY?3

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Today’s employees have one foot out the door. Even your door.

If you’ve been shrewd enough to have already hired some of the nation’s best and brightest minds, odds are they won’t be working for you for very long. Having come-of-age during an economic collapse and subsequent jobs meltdown, next-generation employees are now hardwired skeptics. Employee loyalty is relatively low and falling, with 21 percent of full-time employees planning to leave their jobs this year—the largest number since pre-recession.9 In fact, a solid 38 percent of the workforce thinks of quitting frequently, and even the self- proclaimed “happy” employees are keeping their options open: 34 percent of them seek new opportunities on a daily basis.10

So, as organizations clamor to put together a skilled employee base, the top talent they have already employed are feeling less and less inclined to stick around. The “quit rate” is steadily increasing,11 marking the growing confidence that employees across all levels will be able to find satisfying work elsewhere. And why shouldn’t they? Across the nation’s 50 largest metro areas, including in-demand regions like New York, Washington D.C., Dallas, Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, among others, there were more than 15.8 million jobs in fast-growing, highly-skilled fields as of 2013.12 Try holding onto your top employees with that kind of temptation.

4

34% of “happy” employees seek new opportunities on a daily basis.

Loyalty is low and falling, with 21% of full-time employees planning to leave their jobs this year.

Best US Metros for Job-Seekers with Post-Secondary Education

1000

10,000

100,000 Source: The Atlantic

Los Angeles

2013 Annual Openings

Dallas

Washington

New York

Boston

Top 10 Fastest-Growing Jobs in the U.S.: 1. Biomedical engineering 2. Network Systems & Data Communication Analysts 3. Home Health Aides 4. Personal and Home Care Aides 5. Financial Examiners 6. Medical Scientists 7. Physician Assistant 8. Skin Care Specialists 9. Biochemists and Biophysicists 10. Athletic Trainers

Highly-skilled jobs are in demand today, and are forecasted to become even more desired in the next 10 years. All of the top 10 fastest growing jobs require at least an Associate’s degree. Source: Campus Explorer

THE WAR FOR TALENT IS HERE: IS YOUR WORKPLACE READY?

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What you must do about the shifting workplace—now. The changing workplace poses onerous challenges that employers need to prepare for if they want to be successful in an ultra-competitive talent marketplace. Here are the three biggest workplace outcomes threatened by the war for talent, and your best bets for succeeding as the workplace changes:

1. Lure the best people in with a culture that speaks to them.

Finding and hiring top talent takes more than posting an open position to the company career site. Today’s most desirable employees require more than a steady paycheck to be attracted to your company. They want an enviable corporate culture, challenging work, and a collaborative team that celebrates individual and company success. To attract the best employees, companies today need to transform their corporate structures from traditional hierarchies to flat, open organizations. Every employee must have a voice and be able to share ideas up, down, and cross-functionally, in the moment.

• Be transparent. Transparency is step number one to an enviable corporate culture. Provide continuous updates to the entire workforce regarding goals, strategies, and how the company’s tracking. Ask for feedback at every opportunity. Annual reviews, which amount to nothing more than temperature checks, are not enough. Make sure internal communication is top-down, bottom-up, and everywhere in between.

• Make celebrating success a top priority. Don’t let milestones, achievements, and personal accomplishments slip by unnoticed. Show your employees they’re valued by acknowledging their contributions in a way that’s visible and meaningful to them.

• Demonstrate your commitment to career advancement—and mean it. Set up formal channels for everyone’s career development. Illustrate likely, achievable paths and the steps they can take to advance within the organization and attain each new level regardless of tenure.

Today’s employees want more than a paycheck. According to the Achievers survey of graduates in the Class of 2013, the top three most important factors when looking for a job are:

Source: Achievers & ConnectEDU

CAREER ADVANCEMENT(23.3%)

INTERESTING AND CHALLENGING WORK(23.1%)

SALARY(15.4%)

What do you expect from your manager?Respondents selected all applicable answers:

5

BI-ANNUAL FEEDBACK REVIEW37.6%

IMMEDIATE FEEDBACK

ANNUAL FEEDBACK REVIEW

79.4%

37%

NONE—I DON’T LIKE FEEDBACK1.1%

Empower managers to help employees growLEARN MORE

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2. Make employees want to stay with a recognition strategy. With 67 percent of the workforce disengaged,13 and more open jobs now than in recent memory, it’s a safe bet your A-Players will jump ship sometime in the near future. The number of resignations has increased dramatically since 2009 as a result of the new and vital job market. It’s time for employers to seriously invest in strong retention strategies so employees want to stay put, because it’s where they really want to be.

A staggering 79 percent of employees who quit their jobs say a lack of recognition is a key factor in their departures.14 In fact, a 2013 study examining the increasing “quit rate” found that a full 50 percent of those employees thinking of quitting would stay if they received more recognition.15

• A culture of recognition builds loyalty. Employees love companies that appreciate them for their achievements and validate their hard work. Tying employee recognition to your company’s values reinforces your goals and makes recognition more meaningful. Employees who are consistently recognized this way are 31% more likely to stay.16

• Publicize their contributions. Hearing a roomful of applause is better than a pat on the back. Make sure achievements are recognized publicly so they can be celebrated by everyone.

• Eliminate hierarchical boundaries. It’s the 21st century. Doing away with the bureaucracy that keeps interns from interacting with executives will only help your company move forward (and your employees will find it difficult to stifle the smiles).

More Workers Are Giving NoticeAverage share of total job separations

6

50% of employees thinking of quitting would stay if they received more recognition.

Source: U.S. Labor Department

Quits Other separationsLayoffs and discharges

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

THE WAR FOR TALENT IS HERE: IS YOUR WORKPLACE READY?

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3. Engage your people and inspire their best work.

The best employees expect a lot from their employers. When these expectations aren’t met, disengagement takes hold, which costs employers millions of dollars a year in lost productivity. In order to get the most out of top talent, engage them by providing feedback early and often, coaching on-the-spot, and avoiding meaningless annual reviews or quarterly recaps. Further, providing employees with opportunities to develop their careers and buck the corporate ladder pushes them to give discretionary effort that will drive even more value for your company.

• Clearly define your mission, values, and objectives. Communicate them often. Only 37 percent of employees really understand what their companies are trying to achieve and why.17 Corporate goals shouldn’t be a secret. Empower your employees: Define. Communicate. Repeat.

• Ban the annual review. Encourage constant feedback at every level. A feedback rhythm is key to engaging all levels of employees. Don’t check in once a year—coach your people every day.

• Develop, develop, develop your talent. Top employees want to get better every day. Make sure you’re providing them with ample opportunities to learn, prove themselves, and blow through the corporate ladder.

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DELOITTE INSPIRES TOP TALENT BY ENGAGING THE WORKFORCE Deloitte Canada needed to differentiate itself in a sea of competition that sells similar services with similar talent bases. They wanted a solution that would help inspire their top employees to continuously give their best and maintain the company’s high standards for service by staying longer.

With an Employee Success Platform, Deloitte was able to create a unified culture of recognition. Nearly all employees actively participated, which became positively correlated with high performance. In fact, the highest rated performers had 2.2 times more recognition moments than the lowest. Through engaging, aligning, and recognizing top talent, Deloitte drives business results and separates itself from the rest of the pack.

“We wanted to create an opportunity for up, down, and sideways recognition... A culture of recognition is an important differentiator in the marketplace.” - Deloitte

See how Deloitte drives Employee SuccessDIVE DEEPER

THE WAR FOR TALENT IS HERE: IS YOUR WORKPLACE READY?

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8

An Employee Success Platform™ will get you in fighting shape. An Employee Success Platform engages, aligns, and recognizes employees. It’s easy to use and employees love to make it a daily habit. It acts as a communication and culture portal that encourages the company’s objectives, values, and mission to all employees—no matter where they sit or what they do. By encouraging peer-to-peer, manager-to-employee, and every level of recognition in between, every employee has the opportunity to give and receive constant feedback, boosting performance and retention by engaging employees and encouraging successful behavior.

Additionally, an Employee Success Platform consolidates all recognition spend (it’s a lot more than you think) so HR teams can monitor all recognition expenses and measure ROI. They can actually see positive results like improved employee retention and engagement—and most importantly, improved customer satisfaction. Analytics and reporting also give executive and management teams a line of sight into top performers, including recognitions, connections, achievements, which dramatically improves the efficiency of hiring and promoting. Considering that the workforce is your biggest business expense, don’t you think it’s important to maximize their effectiveness using data that matters?

Build a future-focused, recognition-rich culture to win the talent war.

In a world of unprecedented growth and competition, let it be your company that boasts a workforce of the top employees in your industry. Create an environment of success by engaging, aligning, and recognizing every member or your workforce. Attract the world’s top talent by building a stronger, more sustainable culture that attracts, retains, and motivates employees better than your competitors. It’s the number one thing you can do to make sure your organization comes out on top. Engage, align, recognize—and win.

Considering that the workforce is your biggest business expense, don’t you think it’s important to maximize their effectiveness using data that matters?

Build a culture of recognition todayGET STARTED

THE WAR FOR TALENT IS HERE: IS YOUR WORKPLACE READY?

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Sources1. Hiring is Getting Harder for Employers, Not Easier. Forbes. 2011.

2. Shortage of skilled workers makes hiring difficult. Union-Tribune. 2005.

3. Skilled Talent Shortages Persist. Manpower Group. 2013.

4. Employers Continue to Struggle with Talent Acquisition Challenges. HireRight. 2013.

5. 10,000 Boomers to Retire Each Day for 19 Years. NewsMax. 2010.

6. Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2014.

7. Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS). Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2014.

8. The Employment Situation—January 2014. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2014.

9. Survey: 21% f Workers Say They Plan to Changes Jobs This Year. TLNT.com. 2014.

10. 2013 Kelly Global Workforce Index: Employee Engagement and Retention. Kelly OCG. 2013.

11. Vital Signs: Rising Quit Rate Signals Easing Job Jitters. Wall Street Journal. 2013.

12. Best Metros for Recent College Grads Looking for Work. The Atlantic. 2013.

13. State of the American Workplace. Gallup. 2013.

14. Career Coach: Recognition not only boosts employees, but can also give a lift to the bottom line. The Washington Post. 2010.

15. Why Your Top Talent Is Leaving in 2014, And What It’ll Take To Retain Them. Forbes. 2014.

16. New Research Unlocks the Secret of Employee Recognition. Forbes. 2012.

17. Covey, Stephen. The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness. Free Press. 2004.

9 WINNING STARTS WITH GREAT MANAGERS By now you know that recruiting, retaining, and inspiring top talent is paramount to being a player in today’s knowledge economy. And motivating and keeping your A-players starts with a tool you already have: your managers.

By giving managers the tools to coach, develop, and inspire employees, you’re firing up the secret weapon for increasing employee engagement, decreasing turnover, and improving performance --so you can win.

Equip your managers with the tools they need with our latest e-bookThe Secret Weapon to Driving Employee Success: Your Managers

The Secret Weapon to Driving Employee Success: Your Managers

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Achievers delivers the only true cloud-based Employee Success PlatformTM, a powerful new way for companies to engage, align,

and recognize employees, enabling remarkable business success. Every day.

Learn how your company can change the way the world works at www.achievers.com.

91%

MEMBER SATISFACTION

83%

MEMBER ADOPTION

110

COUNTRIES SERVICED

81

NET PROMOTER SCORE

98%

CLIENT RETENTION

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