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With the rate of inflation coming down in recent months and the talk of a recession lessoning, the December 2022 WSJ/Vistage confidence index saw the most significant one-month rise in over two years. 63% of the CEOs surveyed say they will expand their team, and another 31% say they will maintain their workforce capacity. While this is good news, the competition for talented people will continue. The February 3rd jobs report surprised many, indicating that America added 517,000 last month, dropping unemployment to 3.4%. This, coupled with a reported 11 million job postings in December, has nearly two openings for every person looking for a job.

Improve Recruiting, Hiring, and Retention

Here is what these CEOs indicated they are doing, or plan to do, to improve hiring and retention, and capacity in order:

1. Developing existing workforce
2. Boosting wages
3. Leadership development programs
4. Refining recruitment strategies
5. Offering flexible hours/schedules
6. Investing in automation and labor-saving devices
7. Adding employee benefits
8. Reorganizing the workforce
9. Allowing remote work options
10. Creating apprenticeship or internship programs
11. Offering hiring or retention bonuses
12. Increasing overtime

The Top 10 Reasons People Leave Their Jobs

According to the Talent Trust, a Denver-based recruiting agency, the top 10 reasons people leave their jobs are:

#1. Lack of Appreciation & Recognition for Performance
#2. Poor Relationships with Boss or Coworkers.
#3. Not a fit for the culture
#4. Boredom.
#5. Lack of training and development opportunities
#6. Burnout.
#7. Unfair compensation
#8. Work Is Not Meaningful.
#9. Lack of Empowerment.
#10. Not Enough Knowledge About Your Financial Stability.

While increasing capacity, adding wages and benefits, and creating workplace and time flexibility, are meaningful to employees, these actions seem only to tackle three of these top ten reasons people are leaving.

Addressing the other seven reasons takes Leadership actions; showing appreciation and recognizing good performance, making good relationships between leaders and coworkers a priority, and making sure there is an excellent match between what each role requires and the skills and natural abilities of those in the role; eliminating boredom and burnout, effectively communicating the impact of each role in the organization and letting each qualified and trained team member accomplish the requirement of the role and communicating regularly the financial position of the organization.

Creating an Environment People Want to Stay In and Join

Armed with PI tools, leaders can address these seven other reasons head on. Diagnose: to discover the where’s and whys of their team engagement, give insight to department leaders about how to improve the relationship with their teams, Design: to ensure each team is set up to perform the activities and achieve their desired results successfully, Hire: to makes sure both internal and external candidates are a great natural fit for the role minimizing both boredom and burnout and Inspire: to highlight unique development opportunities for each team member, confirm how each team member prefers to be recognized and appreciated and to provide insight to team members to improve their relationships and to learn what channels to communicate the state of the company so all will hear it.

Despite the recent news of significant tech layoffs, the competition for people is still fierce. It is essential to look at the list above and ensure you have an environment the people both want to stay and join.