It wouldn’t be surprising if you thought that the war for talent was over, but the war for talent will only continue to grow.
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It wouldn’t be surprising if you thought that the war for talent was over, as headlines about tech layoffs and growing discourse about AI’s impact on making certain jobs obsolete or automated continue.
And yet despite all this — the war for talent will continue to grow in 2024.
One contributing factor: The rising trend in solopreneurship.
Solopreneurship has become increasingly popular over the last few years as employees’ priorities changed and corporate burnout hit new heights after COVID (a report by Statista and Forbes projected that the number of freelancers in the U.S. would grow to 86.5 million in 2027 — a 51% increase from 10 years prior — and more than half of the U.S. workforce).
There’s also a concern that even if you reach your headcount goals, those you hired might not be right for the job. A Korn Ferry study predicted a $8.5 trillion talent shortage by 2030 with 85 million jobs going unfilled due to a lack of skilled workers.
Some of those most pressing skills? Management, communication, customer service, leadership, and teamwork, according to LinkedIn’s Most In-Demand Skills List of 2023. In other words, skills that are foundational to helping an employee grow in their careers while also contributing to a successful business.
It’s no surprise, then, that forward-thinking organizations are those that understand that if they want to retain their top talent, they’ll need to invest in creating a positive employee experience.
Upskilling and professional development have both been shown to do exactly this — they keep existing employees happy, attract new talent, and contribute positively to the bottom line.
There’s perhaps no group this type of training will be as helpful to than a company’s middle managers — a critical group to a company’s success that so often doesn’t receive the training or support they need to do their jobs well.
Yet many organizations seem to be running in the opposite direction, slashing L&D budgets due to economic uncertainty despite a wealth of data showing that upskilling leads to higher employee satisfaction and productivity.
If you want to keep your employees feeling engaged and growing in their careers, consider bringing in experts that can support them in the following areas:
When LinkedIn first launched, it was known as a place to build your professional network and look for a new job.
Fast forward to today: While the platform is still used for both, it’s grown to also become a platform focused on community, content, and conversations.
That means that supporting your employees in building a personal brand and sharing their thought leadership on LinkedIn is a win-win for both employee and employer.
Among the benefits (many of which I’ve experienced first-hand):
There are many leaders who think that their teams have virtual communication down pat.
But sticking with the status quo by merely knowing how to join a Zoom call and turn on your video isn’t enough to stand out and ensure you’re presenting your best professional self on camera in all your virtual interactions, whether it be virtual meetings, presentations, or meetings.
Training both your leadership and your employees on how to present themselves virtually in the best light (both literally and figuratively) and understanding how to take advantage of all virtual has to offer are crucial as virtual has become the main way of work for so many organizations — and can often be the only way you communicate with your team, clients, and job candidates.
Not to mention that people often form first impressions of you in as little as a few milliseconds.
Just as we had to put in the work to build our presence in-person, the same needs to happen for our virtual presence, too.
We’ve all heard how meetings are a billion dollar problem, sucking energy from meeting participants and wasting important hours that could have been used towards actual work.
While some companies have made headlines by implementing 4-day workweeks and meeting-free days, what’s even more important before cutting out any meetings is learning how to lead them well. Creating strong meeting facilitators who understand how to lead before, during, and after a meeting will naturally reduce the number of meetings and make the ones you do keep more efficient, engaging, and productive.
There are also new ways of working like asynchronous work that have been underutilized by organizations but could have a profound impact on business outcomes by actively incorporating more diverse voices and opinions.
Meetings aren’t going away any time soon — and they’re one of the few business cornerstones that impact every single person at a company. It’s time organizations start learning how to do them well.
As many companies choose virtual-first or hybrid work models, leaders have experienced new challenges when it comes to collaboration, teamwork, and trust.
However, they can become an organization’s biggest strength if managers are given the right training to communicate and collaborate more effectively with their teams across fundamental areas to any organization, including onboarding, meetings, feedback, and team bonding.
You’ve probably heard the saying that someone’s experience at a job is largely dependent on their manager. The same can be said for your coworkers. People want to work with great people who can work well together and build strong relationships.
For the companies who are proactive in adopting an employee-first mentality through upskilling and professional development, they will be the ones able to retain and find the best talent that drives business forward by supporting employees’ career growth and as a result, the company’s growth, too.
Learn more about Lorraine’s services, connect with her on LinkedIn, or subscribe to her weekly newsletter
