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There are thousands of companies in the U.S. that specialize in sourcing top talent.  Retained recruitment firms. Contingency search firms.  Staffing agencies.  Recruitment Process Outsourcing companies.  And most companies have internal recruiters who are part of a company’s HR department.  There are also tools to help businesses recruit talent.  Job Directories.  Job Alerts.  Career Centers.  Temp Agencies.  Career Fairs.  Finding talent is big business in the U.S.  IbisWorld estimates that the Employment & Recruiting Agencies Market generated $28.5 Billion in revenue in 2022.  There are tens of thousands of articles, blogs, podcasts and books dedicated to helping companies improve in their hunt for qualified candidates. 

Indeed, companies spend a lot of money recruiting, vetting, hiring and training employees for specific jobs only to have them leave less than a year later.  In fact, here are some stark statistics about recruitment and turnover in the U.S.

Fact 1 – Job turnover is elevated.   July 2022 saw 5.9 million total separations.  According to the latest “Job Opening and Labor Turnover Summary” by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), 4.2 million people quit their jobs in July 2022.  But in December 2019, only 3.5 million people quit their jobs.  That means there is a 20% higher annual turnover rate post-Covid and it has not dissipated even with rising interest rates and inflation. 

Fact 2 – Recruitment due to turnover is a big expense.   According to Gallup, replacing a full-time employee typically costs a company between 50% to 250% of that employee’s annual salary. This includes:

• the cost to recruit, onboard and train the employee
• the operational inefficiencies and under-resourcing that occur while one person leaves and the other person gets up-to-speed,
• the negative ripple effect that turnover and work overload has on employee morale,
• the loss of organizational knowledge (which cannot be replaced by hiring someone new),
• the synergy, synchronicity and shorthand that is lost when an employee — who has been part of a team for years — leaves, and
• the negative impact that the vacancy has on the customer experience due to operational inefficiencies.

Fact 3 – Employees are not just changing employers, they are switching industries.  A study by McKinsey found that 48% of people leaving their current job are moving to an entirely new industry. It varies by industry.  For those employed in the finance and insurance sectors, 65% of employees who quit changed industries altogether. It was even higher for the public and social sector, which had 72% of its employees who quit switch to other industries.   That indicates people are not just dissatisfied with their job but are disconnected from the industry in which they work. 

Fact 4 – Longevity and loyalty are declining, especially with younger employees.  The Work Institute’s 2020 Retention Report found that nearly 40% of respondents who quit their jobs did so in the first year of employment; 67% of them within the first six months.  That percentage has only gotten worse post-pandemic.  And a study by Ernst & Young found that millennials are twice as likely as GenXers and Boomers to quit their job.  Attrition rate for Boomers and GenXers was even lower the longer the person had been with a company.

These facts indicate that people are not doing what they love and feel no connection to the company or industry they serve.  Increasingly, employees are seeing a job as just a job providing very little joy, fulfillment or engagement.  That is usually a sign that people are not employed in jobs that maximize the highest and best use of their talents.  Ironically, imagine how frustrating it is for a company’s leadership to learn that they have untapped pools of talent in their ranks that are not being leveraged for the highest and best use of their time and talents, and that is impacting their employee retention and driving up turnover.  It’s the proverbial lose-lose situation.

How Do You Spot Hidden Talent in your Team?

The trend toward Quiet Quitting and the Great Resignation indicate that companies are just not finding ways to keep good people, and are not giving the people they do have work that plays to their strengths.  But how are leaders supposed to spot hidden talents if they are “hidden”? 

It is important to dig deep within individual employees to uncover hidden strengths, especially at times when unemployment is low, turnover is high and talent is in short supply.  Plumbing the depths of each person the company currently employs — to fish out the talents that lurk beneath – will help keep employees fulfilled and maximize their value to the organization. 

Here are some tips to help uncover the treasures within each employee.

• Let employees take on new challenges.  If it doesn’t work, very little was lost.  If it does work, the team’s performance is improved.  When someone on the team proposes a challenge that is feasible, let them tackle it.  If an employee has the freedom to act, it will give them much more confidence to make the project flourish.

• Work side by side with the team from time to time.  Working together is the best way to get to know the abilities, desires to succeed, and skills of each team member.  It also provides opportunities for their development.  Someone who is happy with their work will always be better than someone who isn’t, even if they are paid double.

• Let Praise Lead to Insights – When an employee does an excellent job, don’t just pay a compliment and move on.  That is an opportunity to not only pinpoint the strengths of the accomplishment, but to also inquire how it was done.  Ask the employee to share his process. This impromptu Q&A will bring to light — visible to both you and him — the specific abilities, agilities, skills and talents that could potentially be transferred to a project, position or task in the future.  Keep notes on each employees skills so it can be a resource when there is a need in the future.

Also, depending on the specifics, it might even become a “teachable moment” when that employee gives other employees a presentation about his techniques, methods or approach. This is particularly useful when cross-training and helping employees grow and learn.

• Look beyond actions to thought process.  It’s important to understand not only what employees do but the thought process behind what they do.  Performance assessments rightly focus on the achievement of goals and other measurable markers of success.  But what is behind these accomplishments is often a particular way of thinking that made success possible.  When doing an evaluation, ask the employee to describe those “habits of mind” or try to pinpoint it in the review.  For example, “Lee is methodical in compiling relevant data, organizing it in a consistent way, and studying it carefully in order to arrive at a solution that emerges from the facts instead of gathering facts to fit a solution.”  Or “Sara is methodical in documenting software changes to memorialize why specific steps were implemented and how they fit in with the overarching architecture of the site.”  This kind of documentation helps identify other projects where Lee or Sara’s talents might be useful.  It also demonstrates to employees that you see and really understand the value of what they bring to the table.  Being valued and belonging are great ways to make employees want to stay put.

• Understand the reasons behind preferences.  Good managers know what tasks and projects their direct reports enjoy doing most.  But the best managers not only know what employees like to do but why.  Top leaders look for project characteristics that are at the core of an employee’s feeling of fulfillment.  For example, some employees like routine tasks and a structured environment while others thrive on innovation, uncertainty and breaking new ground. That kind of knowledge helps match an employee with a project, taking into account the crux of the work and the core of the person.  For example, Joe might have enjoyed a customer survey project about product packaging because he likes conducting surveys and gathering data, not because he has a strong affinity for new product packaging.  His next assignment might be to conduct an internal-customer survey for the accounting department rather than work with the marketing department on the launch of the new product. 

• Encourage employees to share their career aspirations.  It’s important to know what employees dream about doing work-wise.  “Mark, if you could start an entirely different career now, what would it be?” If Mark says he always wanted to be a teacher, he might be just the person to create a Raving Fans Training Program for the Customer Service team.  A taste of that dream in his current job might give Mark a greater feeling of fulfillment than if he keeps working in the Accounting Department. 

One of the worst ways a business can leave money on the table is by squandering staff talent.  When staff is underutilized or their biggest strengths are ignored or unrecognized, a company is doing just that… leaving money on the table or passing up top quality work.  And that’s something no company can afford.  Treating each employee as an ocean of talent provides employers the opportunity to uncover those hidden talents and allows employees to grow and do what they enjoy best.  That’s a win-win.

Quote of the Week

“One’s single greatest strength may be uncovering the hidden talents of another person.” Tom Rath

© 2023 – 2022, Keren Peters-Atkinson. All rights reserved.