In my 22 years in Human Resources (HR), I have encountered countless managers, many of whom were natural leaders. As many start to grow in their individual careers, some might start down the management path.

We are all attempting to fill our vacancies as fast as humanly possible. But as we address our vacancies at such a fast pace, you might miss the boat on hiring effectively versus efficiently, or possibly both.

As we attempt to grow our companies or rehire and recover from the last 18 months, it is apparent employers are all attempting to understand why some of our talented employees are looking for new opportunities. Sometimes, those opportunities don’t appear to be necessarily better as they are offering comparable pay or room for advancement. So why is our talent disappearing?

A widely held belief is that the underlying purpose of a Performance Improvement Plan is to begin the documentation process toward termination. This might be the case. But it may not be.

Employers spend considerable time and money searching for a candidate and even more time and money training that employee to carry out the job responsibilities. Employers generally want to work with employees and try to retain them.

It’s still too early to tell how great the “Great Resignation” will be. Or if it even lives up to that description. True, lots of employees are considering changing jobs, but there’s a world of difference between thinking about quitting and actively hunting for a new opportunity. There’s no doubt, though, that employees want more out of their work life. And they’re willing to fight for what they want or leave if they don’t get it.

What more do these unsatisfied employees want? That depends. Really, the best way to learn what your employees want is simply to ask them. We cannot stress this enough. Check-ins with managers are an ideal time for this if both managers and their direct reports are comfortable having such conversations. Anonymous surveys are another option. If nothing else, conduct exit interviews.

But while individual desires vary, they tend right now to fall into a few general themes: greater freedom and flexibility, a bigger say in the workplace, better compensation, and increased safety and security. Employers that can meet these demands have an advantage in today’s job market. Let’s look at each in turn.

New year brings new opportunities in compensation. In 2022, we will get our feet underneath us, gather our balance and leap forward into a new approach to pay that may provide a foundation for the next ten years. There is no reason to wait. The future of compensation is yours to create!

We have survived a lot this year. As we enter the holidays and start to plan for 2021, we need to consider our focus. Many organizations may prioritize their bottom line, sales & revenue to stay afloat, expanding to cover untapped markets, or pushing for governmental regulation changes to support their business efforts. These are all valid and important; however, they may miss the most essential point. Without engaged employees, all this is moot.

Annual performance reviews help to create an open dialogue between employees and managers. While they can potentially add stress to both you and the employee, they strengthen the way you manage the employee by creating a method to continually and regularly assess strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for growth.

This is where many mid-stage high-growth companies find themselves on a regular basis. They have an innovative product and the core team for future success. The future is just beyond the horizon and the sunrise is just beginning to show. They have a business plan that requires a ton of new hires and a compensation philosophy or structure designed for the company they were a year ago.

While this seems like a pure HR issue, it is a compensation issue. Paying employees costs more than paying contractors. It’s a fact. Companies are increasingly focused on more aggressive profit margins. The concept of “gig workers” help solve this issue by allowing companies to grow without paying…

For several months many of us have wondered why base pay wasn’t spiking upward out of respect for the historical strong job market. The basics premise of our economy is the strong demand and short supply results in high prices. This is true for peaches, cars, and people. With unemployment at very low levels and a job market continuing to create jobs at a rate of 210,000 per month, we should have been seeing pay rise far faster than our now sad 3% annual increase. It turns out the trickster was simple math.

Employee Stock Purchase Plans (ESPPs) get a bad rap although they should be lauded in wonderment. The proof is in the number of different areas that claim full, or no, responsibility for these underutilized instruments. ESPPs are much like the old Saturday Night Live “commercial” for Shimmer (“It’s a Dessert Topping AND a Floor Wax”). Unlike Shimmer, the mythical SNL product, ESPPs are actually delicious, effective and available on your compensation store shelves today. If your company does not have an ESPP, or has not optimized the current plan, you should consider reading on.

The CEO or head of Sales asks for something that you know CAN be done, but you are not sure YOU can do it. Sometimes we take a deep breath and drop in, trusting on our training and instinct. When we can’t do that, it’s time to ask for help.