Can Technology Help Boost Employee Retention in the Great Resignation?

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Man on a Zoom call with a woman

When Affinity’s virtual CIOs ask business leaders about the biggest challenges they face in 2022, a common answer they hear is “staffing.” Employers, especially small and mid-sized businesses, are struggling to recruit and retain talented employees in what has been dubbed the “Great Resignation.”

In March of 2022 alone, 4.5 million workers left their jobs. Pandemic cases and restrictions may have eased, but the changes to the workforce’s expectations seem to be much longer-lived.

The causes of Great Resignation are, no doubt, complex. And there are likely no easy fixes to the problems of recruitment and employee retention in today’s chaotic labor market. That said, there are steps that business leaders can take to make their organizations more attractive—and their positions more fulfilling—to current and prospective employees. And technology may be an important part of the answer.

How to Empower Employees to Boost Employee Retention

Empowering Flexibility While Maintaining Collaboration and Security

During the pandemic, we all learned how to (and maybe how not to) work remotely. Now, many employees desire greater flexibility with respect to where, when, and how much they work. According to LinkedIn’s Global Talent Trends Report for 2022, 63% of professionals selected “work-life balance” as a top priority when looking for a new gig. That’s more than those who chose “compensation and benefits.”

While it’s certainly true that telecommuting doesn’t work in all industries or in every company culture, it’s worth considering whether the talent pool your organization draws from could be widened by offering remote or hybrid work as an option to employees. And, of course, technology has a key role to play in facilitating remote and non-traditional work. From general-purpose collaboration and video-conferencing tools like Teams, Zoom, and Slack, to more industry-focused project management and even ERP solutions – there are tools that might benefit your organization, and potentially ease some of your concerns about a remote or partially remote workforce.

True, remote work does raise security concerns, especially if the workers in question aren’t using company-managed hardware. Many of these concerns can be addressed, though, with investment in the right cyber security strategy.

Empowering Employees with the Right Tools for Their Jobs

It may sound obvious, but it’s important to make sure employees have the right tools—which include hardware and software—to do their jobs well. While it may not be sexy, a solid workstation strategy can minimize performance issues and work interruptions, reducing friction in your employees’ jobs that can lead to mounting frustration.

And beyond hardware, it may be time to reassess the core software tools your team uses. With the right strategy and investment, you may have opportunities to automate manual processes. Doing so will increase employee productivity. But it can also remove tedious tasks that may drain your employees’ energy—and clear the way for higher-level tasks that promote greater engagement and satisfaction with their work. And this may be one of the more important things you can do during the Great Resignation.

Empowering Employee Growth and Purpose

In their research on the Great Resignation, the consulting firm McKinsey has found the following:

  • Two thirds of survey respondents said that the pandemic has “caused them to reflect on their purpose in life.”

  • 70% of employees surveyed said their sense of purpose is largely defined by work.

  • 85% of executives and managers surveyed said that they are “living their purpose at work”

  • Only 15% of frontline workers said the same.

As you can imagine, based on these findings McKinsey encourages employers to help workers find purpose within the work they do, and within the mission of their companies. And doing so is a complex task that involves engagement with employees on a number of levels—not just technology.

However, technology, when implemented correctly and with involvement from and engagement with employees, can enhance your team’s sense of purpose by clearing out menial tasks and making more space for engaging, meaningful work.

Affinity’s Vision: To Empower Clients and Employees to Achieve Their Dreams

A key component of Affinity’s vision is “to empower clients and employees to achieve their dreams.” During the Great Resignation, that looks like walking with clients through near-unprecedented labor uncertainty.

Interested in learning how Affinity’s team provides technology strategy that can help move the needle on employee retention? Contact us today.