The cost-of-living crisis and why the grass IS greener in today’s job market

Guest Editorial • Summer 2022

The cost-of-living crisis is firmly at the top of everyone’s priority list, and the recruitment sector is next in line to be hit by the impact on employees. A whopping 65% of employees now say a salary increase is a priority when employers are already struggling to recruit and retain their staff. Reward and recognition and the proactive management of a business’ people have never been more critical.

Let us consider the typical workforce.

Disengaged employees typically will reduce productivity by around 20%
Neutral employees who are neither engaged nor disengaged; will remain productive but risk being influenced by the disengaged.
Engaged employees will add +20% productivity to the business and perform at the highest level.

Many employers in this crisis are reacting and falling into a vicious cycle of retaining disengaged people in fear of losing a staff member without looking into the value that person can add. Basic maths will tell you that more engaged employees will achieve more than the disengaged.

OK, I’m an employer. What can I do next?

The cost-of-living crisis is real and happening to people now. Middle earning families are now using foodbanks, they are worried about the cost of travel and how they will manage their finances moving forward, and so a focus on their salary is growing in importance, however company culture, wellbeing, hybrid working and feeling like they can make a difference to the business and have their voices heard, are also just as important.

So how can you make a difference? Start by looking at your Employee Engagement.

The first step in employee engagement is to start talking to your employees! Do you conduct 1.2.1’s regularly and find out what the needs of your people are? Regular conversations and engagement can help them to feel valued and want to stay with your business. In current times, ask them what would help and anything they would change to get through the cost-of-living crisis. Our tips for those conversations include:

Why do they work for you? What makes your business a great place to work? How can you improve this?
Is their salary competitive? Is there any room for improvement to reward their Productivity / Loyalty / Advocacy?
What more could you do for them that could be relatively low cost to you but high value to your team?
Do your values align with your employees? Do they embed the values and company ethos?
Do they know and see your vision for the future?
How are they? How is their mental and overall well-being in these challenging times? How can you support them?

All the above should be translated into personal development plans (PDPs) where specific needs are identified, and action is taken. Many employers will counter-offer a good employee when they are offered another role. Why not use the budget for this counter to prevent this from happening in the first place? If you have staff using food banks, why not offer a free team breakfast once a week or get some fresh fruit in for their desks?

By having an accurate picture of your workforce and through taking proactive steps, you can get ahead of the game and be prepared for what the next twelve months might throw at you and them.

With 1/ in 5 looking to job hunt in the next 12 months every business should look at offboarding as much as their onboarding. You should want anyone leaving your business to do so on good terms, knowing that you have done everything within your power to support them in their career choices when they are choosing between staying with your business or taking another offer.