Be Happy, Be Flexy

While headlines focus on work-from-home protocols and even instituting a four-day workweek to keep employees happy, eyecare professionals may be thinking: What about us? These are not options for our front-line workers.

Thankfully, experts have flagged other ways optical can attract, train, and retain staff. Currently, when workers are highly selective about whom they’ll work for and ready to bolt if they don’t like something, there are two objectives to prioritize: flexibility and well-being.

Staff satisfied with employers’ flexibility are 2.6 times more likely to be happy and 2.1 times more likely to recommend the company to job seekers, according to LinkedIn’s 2022 Global Talent Trends report. Employees who feel cared for at work are 3.2 times more likely to be happy and 3.7 times more likely to recommend the company.

Catering to these needs is table stakes for all job seekers and younger workers are more demanding than their older counterparts. What started as the Great Resignation has since morphed into the Great Reshuffle, according to Microsoft, whose 2022 Work Trend Index found that 43% of workers are likely to change jobs this year, up from 41% last year. Break out Gen Z and millennials and that job-hopping figure jumps to 52%.

To learn more, EB attended the virtual “Managing the Human Side” panel discussion series hosted by Digital Solutions Gallery in partnership with The Ohio State University in June. The panel focused on managing the human component of business so that leaders can succeed amid ongoing economic, social, and technological change.

“Will there ever be a time when talent isn’t a problem? Or are we in a situation where the battle for talent is a forever?” asks futurist Thornton May, moderator of the business panel.

So, how can ECPs put these tips into practice?

“You have to be very granular in your approach to the human challenge,” says May, co-founder of the Digital Solutions Gallery, which hosted the discussion. “You’re going to have to be atomic and sometimes subatomic—understand demographics because in today’s marketplace, you have four generations slamming into one another.”

May said baby boomers working for a consumer goods company think, “Dude, we sell tomato sauce. We don’t sell politics,” while activist Gen Zers may take exception and say, “These are political tomatoes.”

YOUNGER WORKERS CRAVE TRAINING

Among LinkedIn survey respondents, 59% cite professional development opportunities as a top way to improve company culture.

“These new folks are expecting training. They want to know what training they’re going to get and asking these questions during the interview process,” shares panelist John Shaia, director, IT, Steiner Electric Co. The company’s four-to-six-week onboarding process ensures new hires get the immediate feedback they crave “to show we care.”

On video calls, turn cameras on for eye contact that builds trust and a sense of belonging, says Shaia and another panelist, Malcolm Frank, former chief strategy officer of Cognizant.

PRAISE PAYS

“Don’t talk about how amazing you are, but talk about how amazing they are,” adds Shaia. Recognize and reward high performers; purge toxic employees who send great talent to the exits.

“‘A players’ want to work with ‘A players,’” says panelist Will Baumann, co-founder and CEO of Fourthwall. The company, which helps creators monetize digital content, boasts a 96% staff retention rate.

“I think 99% of hiring and retention falls into this mindset and it’s very hard to do because it requires, unfortunately, letting people go who don’t meet this bar,” he says.

For inspiration on flexibility and well-being in the workplace, consider professional services firm PWC’s $2.4 billion people strategy called My+. PwC chairman Tim Ryan says this reimagined people experience is “centered around choice and flexibility, and tailor-made to further support development, well-being, purpose, and personal ambitions.”