Don’t say we didn’t tell you

I would have thought it was pretty obvious really. You should have seen it coming a mile away. You didn’t need tea leaves to give you a sign. If you’d read only a little bit of the material we’ve been pumping out these last 12 months you’d have got an inkling of what is now starting to happen. And it took those good people down at Hudson to spell it out for us. Employees are going to do some walking. Yes, you heard it first right here, unless you’ve already visited the Hudson website, read the papers today and scanned twenty or so Google-friendly blogs. They’ll do it after they’ve trawled Seek, checked out a few job ads in the paper and visited a few of those nice recruiting people. So if you’re a boss or one of those HR types, don’t come complaining to me that a whole stream of employees are giving you the wry smile and pushing the dreaded envelope across the table in your direction. I warned you. I told you 12 months ago that those organisations who build and maintain a strong employer brand will come out smelling of roses once the market recovery happens. Those who didn’t heed the warning would rue the day they stopped communicating with their employees, hid under their desk, went on a long fishing holiday and scribbled a note about a clampdown on pay rises and had their secretary pin it on the canteen notice board when everyone had gone home. Tsk tsk. For employers the news isn’t good. Evidently the Hudson 20:20 Series report Talent Tightrope: Managing the Workplace through the Downturn involved 3,000 employees (and 247 employers) across Australia and New Zealand, and goes something like this:

The good news for employers...
> more than a third of employees said they would consider a pay freeze or reducing or losing a bonus

The bad news for employers...
> in 2008 63 percent stated that an insufficient salary was the main reason for them to leave a job... in 2009 it was only 45 percent
> ‘career development considerations’ were far more important to the majority as the reason they quit their jobs
> 44 percent of employees indicated that employee morale had plummeted
> 26 percent of employers thought that workplace morale had dropped
> 35 percent of employees are increasingly concerned about the impact of the downturn on their personal circumstances
> 32 percent of employees are genuinely concerned about losing their jobs
> 42 percent of employees said they feel their job is less secure than the same time last year
> 47 percent of employees are seeking a new role
> 56 percent of employees would consider roles they previously would not have looked at

In the words of Mark Steyn, CEO of Hudson A/NZ...  “In every aspect of current workplace sentiment, whether job satisfaction, motivation, morale, perceived stress levels or job security, employers are clearly unaware of their employees’ frame of mind”. He went on to say “If employees are disgruntled or unhappy with their current roles, the moment a better opportunity presents itself they will leave. It is this danger of a mass exodus that employers must be aware of and take urgent steps to avoid.”

But wait, there’s more...

Another survey by recruitment firm Aequalis Consulting just happened. This is what they gleaned from 280 job seekers.

> 45 percent lack trust in senior management
> 62 percent were experiencing lower morale
> only 22 percent are not planning to move jobs when economic recovery happens

But wait, there’s even more... another survey by global recruitment consultancy Robert Half has found
> 77 percent of professional workers expect a pay increase once the market recovers

So there you have it. The good news for recruitment agencies is that 47 per cent of employees are seeking a new role. The bad news for employers is that 47 per cent of employees are seeking a new role. The good news for job seekers is that those plum jobs of 12 months ago are going to come back again pretty soon. The bad news for many employers is that they’re going to have plenty of envelopes sliding across the table if they haven’t got their act together.

The good news for employer branding consultants like Heywood Innovation is that...
> those organisations who fear what’s going on in employees minds had better commission an online employee survey quick smart while they’re still in their seats
> those cut-through recruitment campaigns are going to be needed again
> employers are going to need to communicate with staff again
> organisations who aren’t perceived as a good employer are going to need lots of help
> tired old intranets will need a rethink
> there is a need to create competent careers sections on many websites

As an employment branding professional I’m banking on the fact that most employers are just waking up to these facts and will probably be starting to feel a bit uneasy that bad things may be about to start happening to them. Their biggest fear is that they don’t know what employees are thinking right now.

I’ve been saying for quite a few months that “What you don’t know will hurt you the most”.

So what do I recommend you consider first?

If you’re one of these employers I recommend that you give serious consideration to an online employee survey to get inside your employees’ heads and figure out what they’re thinking and how happy they are. It may just save you from getting trodden underfoot by the stampede.

If you’re in Sydney or not too far away call me on 8256 3999 and we’ll work up a solution for you.


Tony Heywood is a Fellow of the Design Institute of Australia, founder of Heywood Innovation in Sydney Australia and co-founder of BrandSynergy in Singapore.
tony@heywood.com.au
www.heywood.com.au
www.brandsynergy.com.sg

Let’s get back to business

In these recovering markets, I anticipate the following:

1 Employer emphasis is now shifting back to recruitment. After some of the toughest business conditions many organisations have ever experienced, employers realise more than ever that employees are the life blood of their organisation and can make the difference between success and failure. There is a fear however that employees have been ‘biding their time’ for the past year and may be now keen to test the recovering jobs market. A case for some urgent focus on employee engagement.

2 The ongoing strength of an organisation’s employer brand relies heavily on an ability to maintain communication with employees and address their concerns regarding the future and ongoing job security.

3 Companies are looking for ways to reduce recruitment costs. They are loathe to tolerate the high recruitment costs of previous years. Reducing costs however, is not about less communication and less marketing. It is about finding ways to be more capable and perform more recruitment tasks in-house.

4 The upturn will advantage those organisations that have used their time and resources wisely, to keep their employees informed and engaged with the company’s vision and confidence in the future.

5 A new style of company leader is emerging who is people-focused and can inspire a workforce to make deeper commitments to its employer. These newly engaged and motivated companies will be the new leaders in 2010.

6 Employer branding is increasingly recognised as an essential complement to a company’s corporate brand. An increasing proportion of advertising and marketing budgets will consequently be channelled into employee-focused activities.

7 Companies who define and strengthen their employment proposition will be favourably positioned ahead of competitors in recovering markets.

8 Recruitment companies will increasingly realise the value of employer branding to themselves and to their clients. They will stimulate closer relationships with practitioners of employer branding, particularly those with end-to-end service offerings.

9 Employees will expect their employer to be open and truthful about the employment experience and keep the promise that was made at the point of recruitment.

10 Organisations will realise that people are the essential fabric of their business and critical to future business success. Consequently they will have a deep desire to know employees’ present perception of the employment experience.



Tony Heywood is a Fellow of the Design Institute of Australia, founder of Heywood Innovation in Sydney Australia and co-founder of BrandSynergy in Singapore.
tony@heywood.com.au
www.heywood.com.au
www.brandsynergy.com.sg