There are more than 11 million vacant positions in the United States, according to the February 2022 report of the US Bureau of Labor. With more open positions than people looking to work, your organization may be finding it a challenge to attract and retain talent. So what can you do to attract and keep the best employees during The Great Resignation? 

To find out how companies could better handle their employment challenges, BigSpeak Speakers Bureau reached out to Work Engagement keynote speaker Eric Termuende, author of Rethink Work. Eric has interviewed thousands of employees and leaders from coast to coast to understand what separates great companies from the others (and you can read more in his newsletter). Eric said there was more to attracting talent than just raising wages or giving more enhanced benefits. Your company also has to think about its culture. 

Don’t Be Everything to Everyone

Many companies are trying hard to be the perfect place to work for everyone, Eric said. However, your company isn’t going to be the right culture for every employee. Unless you are intentional about who you are as a company and who would work best in your company, you won’t find the right people to fill your positions. 

Sometimes an organization’s culture and uniqueness get lost when trying to cast a broad net to get people in the door. When you try to be everything to everyone, Eric said you can get bodies in the door; however, those people might not want to stay. Or you might not want them to stay.

Eric said there’s no prescription for the “best place to work.” Some employees and organizations like remote work, some like office work, and some like the hybrid model. He suggested companies do some soul searching about what the company culture really is so the organization can attract and retain the kind of people who fit well with that culture. 

Don’t Try to Keep Everybody

Likewise, Eric suggested you don’t need to spend time trying to keep people if they don’t fit the work culture. Companies need to ask themselves, do you just need a person to fill a role or do you want to hire someone who really wants to be at your company? If a person doesn’t fit the true work culture of your company, they will leave anyway to find a company where they do fit. Instead, try to attract the right employees in the first place.

Showcase Successful Employees

One way to find people that fit with your culture is to showcase existing employees who are successful in the company. Eric said to have these employees talk about the life they get to live by working at your company and what life they got to lead outside of work. These examples will show potential employees what the work culture is like. The idea, Eric said, is to use existing employees as case studies of how employees can succeed and be phenomenal in their role to attract the best talent. The kind of people who will thrive in your company.

In the end, if you want to attract and retain talent during the Great Resignation, your company needs to soul search. You need to know who you are. When you know who your company is then you will stop trying to be everything to everyone, let employees go who don’t work well, and use successful employees to attract talent who will want to stay.