Is Data the Key to Surviving the Great Resignation?
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 4.5 million Americans quit their jobs in November 2021. The COVID-19 pandemic brought with it the Great Resignation, a wave of American workers voluntarily quitting their jobs en masse due to wage stagnation, long-lasting job dissatisfaction, new opportunities with cash incentives, better pay or better benefits, and availability of flexible and remote work opportunities in the market. Many parents, especially women, also quit their jobs due to the long-term closure of childcare facilities.
Since it began, The Great Resignation has forced employers to revamp their workplace culture and start to think outside the box. For many, this meant implementing strategies that focus on employee retention and revamping hiring practices to meet the needs of a decentralized workforce. In addition, it has become important for business leaders to accept that in an employee-focused job market, companies will need to know more about their prospective employees in order to understand their needs and preferences.
To navigate these challenging times, businesses need to create more efficient hiring processes and outline ways to effectively retain the talent they have already hired. Accomplishing both goals will require the use of quality data sources. Here are some ways that data can help companies survive The Great Resignation.
Understand a candidate’s retention history
Now more than ever, it has become increasingly important for companies to have in place a strong recruiting solution that is powered by both high-quality professional and B2B data. This will do wonders to help the staffing team find and hire the best talent possible.
When a company is considering whether or not to bring on a new employee, there are several important factors worth analyzing. Chief among them is their professional history as a whole, how long they have stayed in their previous roles, how frequently they have received promotions, and how long have they been in their particular field or industry.
By using data during this process, hiring teams will be able to successfully generate high-converting shortlists of qualified talent for every role, identify candidates with high retention potential, and single out candidates that are committed to their industry.
Locate talent where they are
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the professional talent pool has been scattered. Thanks to the normalization of remote work, the best employees to fit a role may no longer need to reside in the same area as the company they work for, nor are those companies limited to the local talent pool to fill many roles.
Businesses should take advantage of this change by being flexible when it comes to offering remote work options, which can both speed up recruitment and have a positive impact on retention rates. Understanding a candidate’s penchant for relocation — where have they lived over time and for how long — can also be instructive, but only if the talent acquisition tool has that data.
Expand your view of talent
Professional data sources can help identify candidates with a history that favors retention. These sources can quickly browse and flag any industry switches and stream changes that might have occurred.
For example, a candidate that jumps from e-commerce to fintech to advertising is a bigger retention risk than candidates who have remained in the same field but are looking for a change within the same industry. The ability to spot these trends can help recruiters identify such inconsistencies and discuss them to find out their cause during interviews, thus making informed decisions.
The Great Resignation has prompted unprecedented shifts for employers across the nation, making it crucial for them to take change in stride. The success of a business has always been dependent on its ability to adapt. Better analyzing talent will empower organizations to do just that.
Ben Eisenberg is Director of Product, Applications & Web at People Data Labs.
