How to retain engage and motivate in a rapidly changing job market 

How to retain, engage and motivate staff? It was the topic of the round table ‘Why did you wake up today?’ organized by HR Ticino. A crucial topic in times of great resignation, quite-quitters, south-working, and the new generation Z that is entering the job market. During the roundtable discussion, with as one of the speakers our Client Director Monica Ferrario, there were shared many ideas for improvement, and involved and motivated staff and potential candidates.

But now what does the candidate want? What do you retain staff with and what is the difference between the different generations? 

A shift from making money to well-being 

Research shows that although money is still the most important factor in choosing or switching jobs, well-being in the company and the possibility of working in agile and flexible contexts are becoming predominant. Now ‘well-being’ is a broad term, so what do people expect in terms of well-being within the company and what can you offer as a company? To start with, you can think about flexible working hours that allow employees to take their kids to school, go for a walk or practice their favorite sport. Other possibilities include paying or offering crèche, healthcare, a healthy lunch, extra holidays or training courses, and so on 

The job market in their hands

People are quitting and the search for good talent has gotten harder than ever. The job market is in the hands of the candidates, and this is especially true for people working in IT. In the race for the best talents companies are forced to make offers with a lot of flexibility, innovation within the company, and learning opportunities on the job. Is your job not remote? Chances are candidates won’t even look at the opportunity.

Generation Z x Millennials x Baby Boomers

So well-being, flexible working hours, money, and learning opportunities are all factors that will influence retaining, engaging, and motivating staff and potential employees. Yet, these factors are not the same for everyone and we can specifically differentiate based on generations: Baby boomers (1955 – 1964), Gen X (1965 – 1980), Millennials (1981 – 1996), and Gen Z (1997 – 2012). Looking at Baby Boomers, for example, we see that they attach more importance to an economically stable job, whilst Millenials and Gen Z attach more importance to finding themselves in the values and identity of the company. Also, generations have different skills, which can be exchanged in mentoring sessions between Gen Z and Baby boomers. 

The perfect relationship between company and candidate

Unless the generation, the first step should always be to look for the real motivation of a candidate. Try to understand what motivates them, and what their values are if their identity matches the company, and make compromises. Employees who fit perfectly with your company’s values and identity are motivated and of immense value to the company. It is therefore advisable to invest time and money in retraining and upskilling these employees instead of looking for external talent that might leave after a year or two.

Start today with Executive Coaching for your employees and contact Monica Ferrario at m.ferrario@kpexs.com directly to receive more information.