Employee retention in times of staff shortages

The shortage of skilled labour in Switzerland has developed into a staff shortage that affects all professions and sectors. It is therefore becoming increasingly important for companies to retain and retain existing employees.

In Switzerland, there is a shortage not only of specialists and experts, but also of unskilled labour in all professions and sectors – despite below-average economic growth forecast for 2023. The economic situation with inflation remains challenging. And yet in 2022, Switzerland recorded the lowest unemployment rate in 20 years at 2.2%.

The staff shortage has numerous causes

In addition to the challenging economic situation, many baby boomers are currently retiring. The new generation of young people entering the labour market and migration are not enough to compensate for the retirements. In addition, more and more employees – including many men – are working part-time. In addition, more and more employees are taking early retirement.
This is leading to a shift in power on the labour market – in favour of employees. Today, companies have to apply to employees, not the other way round.

Expectations of employers

In order to attract the best employees, experts and talents, employers must offer more than just a good salary, attractive social benefits and flexible working conditions. We analysed what employees expect from companies in the “European Work Voices 2022/2023” survey. The 5,600 employees in Switzerland, Germany, France, the UK and Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands and Portugal attach particular importance to meaning in their work. And they want to be perceived as a person, with all their peculiarities, abilities and individual facets. These needs are not new and are not limited to the younger generations. In the past, employees also sought meaning in their work and wanted to be seen as individuals. But in the past, employees simply could not demand this because employers could choose from many applicants.

Individualised approach in recruiting

For the search for the best employees, this means A personalised approach is needed to be successful. With active searches on LinkedIn, a short message with a personalised approach and a link to the job advertisement is sometimes enough to persuade candidates to come in for an interview. With other candidates, on the other hand, you have to take a closer look at their profile and then, for example, address specific opportunities for further development.

Employer branding from the inside out

In addition to the need to be perceived as a person, the values practised are of great importance to employees. They pay attention to whether the image of the employer conveyed through employer branding matches the reality. If things are not perfect everywhere, it is worth addressing this. This openness in communication is particularly appreciated by younger generations. They also want to know what contribution they can make and what concrete impact they can have in the company.

Developing and retaining existing employees

If the company succeeds in finding the right employees, it becomes all the more important to retain them. In addition to the values practised, supporting measures include further development opportunities – across generations. After all, it is not just young employees who should be developed and promoted. If someone is 55 years old, they may stay with the company for another 10 years. The generation of older employees also needs development potential – not least to cushion the impact of early retirement.

Employee retention: taking care of employees

Managers also need to be looked after. This is particularly evident in companies in which hierarchies are becoming increasingly flat or which are introducing new, agile forms of organisation. If more and more tasks and topics are distributed among teams, this can lead to problems only being faced by managers. Companies must ensure that the focus in such roles is not solely on personal responsibility and individual resilience, but that managers are given competent support.

Developing solutions in dialogue with employees

Employees today have different requirements in terms of employment and working conditions. However, a four-day week or flexibilisation of working hours does not work for every industry or every company. If you ask existing employees why they like working for the company – and what could be done to ensure that this remains the case for a long time to come – you will come up with new ideas, understand their needs, promote transparency and dialogue and be able to involve employees in finding solutions.

About the Author

Balz M. Villiger, President of the Board & Country Manager Switzerland and board member of swissstaffing. This article was first published on the swissstaffing blog.