Becoming an Employer of Choice: 3-S Model of Change Management

Becoming an ‘Employer of Choice’ is not just a desirable goal but also a crucial strategy for attracting and retaining top talent in today’s competitive job market. Most clients I work with are struggling to attract and retain the right calibre of staff to grow their bottom-line revenue. The stats are out there regarding the cost of hiring and losing staff, including recruitment and hiring costs, training and onboarding expenses, lost productivity, downtime and disruption and potential legal expenses where a case of unfair dismissal is taken against the employer.

Some clients need help understanding how to identify the gaps in the end to end strategic HR process to see ultimately where improvements can be made. For example, if a client comes to me and says that they cannot retain staff, I engage in consultation with them regarding the hiring process, job descriptions, organisational design, role profiling. Then the ‘top down’ approach of performance management, feedback, reward, recognition and consequences for under performance.

 

Consultative Sessions for Deep Insights

This can be easily done through a series of consultative sessions whereby I meet with the senior leadership team, various managers from within the operation and in some cases, focus groups with staff from all levels within the organisation. Together, we take a deep dive into what it’s ‘really like’ to work within the organisation.

 

Long-Term Impact of Employee Disengagement

This might sound like a massive undertaking and one in which the old adage of ‘if it ain’t broke, why fix it’ may spring to mind. However, what I always say to clients is to play the scenario forward. What will the cumulative cost of lack of employee engagement, high attrition, under performance and lack of creativity be in the long run? These are all the symptoms of a disengaged workforce, which materialise in issues such as sickness, absenteeism and ultimately, exit from the business. This is too costly a cycle to simply ignore, or hope that it will magically improve over time.

 

Introducing the 3-S Change Model

To aid the process, I developed a model called the ‘3-S Change Model’. This enables me to help the client to identify where they are missing a trick or two. Taking each one of the ‘Three-S’ elements, we do a health check with the key stakeholders to get a sense of how the business is performing within each element of the model. This gives us an opportunity to see where internal processes are working really well, where there are gaps or where some areas have been completely unaddressed. Essentially this is a useful model to assess the organisational culture at a high level and see what is happening beneath the surface.

 

Three Tips for Enhancing Employee Engagement

Here are three tips that I would recommend for employers who think they might have an issue with employee engagement:

 

Look at the Data in Your Exit Interviews

 When you find out why people are leaving, you can see if there are any trends that are worth addressing to help retain staff for longer.

Walk Through Your Recruitment, Onboarding and Probationary Period Processes

As if you were a new joiner within the organisation. Ask yourself, is it supportive, easy to follow and would it make you want to stay, grow and be part of this organisation?

Analyze Data on One-to-Ones, Development Plans, Internal Promotion, and Succession Planning

What is it telling you? Ask yourself if people are being sufficiently developed with good quality learning and development interventions? Is there a strong history of internal promotion and succession planning?  Do people feel rewarded by significant levels of opportunity within the organisation?

 

Addressing Multigenerational Workforce Needs

There are various influences on each of these areas, for example the differences that a multi-generational workforce hold in relation to values, expectations and ways of working. Leadership and management teams can be educated and informed as to how to address these influences, once they are aware that these needs exist. This approach can help transform your company into an employer of choice, attracting and retaining top talent.

 

The Myth of Perfect Employee Engagement

Perhaps one of the most common statements I’ve heard in my years as a consultant is ‘everything is fine here, we don’t have any conflict and we are happy the way we are’. Whilst I commend any organisation who has managed to get the difficult and tenuous area of employee engagement to an optimum level I would doubt that there’s any Utopian organisation out there, who is getting all of this stuff right, all of the time. Experience also tells me however, that once the door is open to taking a look under the proverbial bonnet to see what’s happening at ground level, that it’s never a wasted conversation.

 

Get Started on your Journey to Become an Employer of Choice

If you’re unsure about where to start or you’ve identified potential areas of concern from any of the three questions above, please get in touch by email denise@obrienlearningsolutions.ie or book a clarity call.