Attraction and retention issues plague organizations around the world

Employee groups that are posing the biggest attraction challenges

• IT/Digital talent: 75%
• Engineers: 55%
• Hourly production/Manual labor roles: 37%
• Hourly technicians: 34%

Employee groups that are posing the biggest retention challenges

• IT/Digital talent: 59%
• Engineers: 41%
• Hourly production/Manual labor roles: 30%
• Hourly technicians: 28%

What employers are doing to attract talent

• Increase workplace flexibility: 66%
• Apply broader emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion: 54%
• Offer incentives (e.g., sign-on bonuses, equity/long-term incentives): 43%
• Raise starting salary ranges: 39%

What employers are doing to retain talent

• Apply broader emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion: 54%
• Allow employees in certain jobs to work from anywhere: 47%
• Change compensation programs (e.g., base salary, short-term incentives, long-term incentives): 37%
• Improve the employee experience: 35%

Pay-related actions employers are taking to retain talent

• Compensation review of specific employee populations: 48%
• Targeted increases for specific employee populations: 44%
• One-off cash payments (e.g., retention bonus, lump-sum payment or allowance): 42%
• Full compensation review of all employees: 37%
• Changes in compensation philosophy (e.g., update salary ranges, extend pay-range maximums): 30%
• One-off equity/long-term incentive payments or grants: 28%
• Higher base salary increases for all employees: 26%

Actions your organization can take

1. Stick to your compensation strategy. Once you’ve determined your strategic goals that align with your compensation philosophy and business strategy, stand by your plan.
2. Narrow how you will achieve your goals. Set clear priorities and remember that your goals and priorities will be different than other organizations’.
3. Segment your workforce as you develop your goals. Whether that’s by employee level, performance level or areas for which you’re having trouble attracting and retaining, have a plan for how – and on whom – you will spend your salary increase budget dollars.
4. Take a Total Rewards approach. Pay is important, but it’s not the only factor employees consider when choosing to stay with or leave an organization. Take a holistic approach to your talent value proposition.
5. Back your decisions with sound data. When it comes to spending money on your talent, basing decisions on your gut instinct or employee demands is a quick way to failure. Always leverage reliable, consistent intelligence.