The strategies and challenges of managing an evolving workforce

Generally speaking, employees fall into one of three categories. The “go-getters” are superstars who strive for greatness and are looking to advance within the organization. The “reliable” employees work hard and are valuable, but they do not tend to go the extra mile. Finally, the “no thanks” employees are unengaged, unaccountable and often unproductive.  

With the average tenure at an organization being about four years, companies are doing everything in their power to retain talent. Given the amount of time, energy and money that it takes to hire someone and to onboard that employee, not to mention the hassle of finding their replacement if they eventually leave the organization, it is as important as ever to hold on to “reliable” employees – and especially “go-getters.” 

In many ways, though, managing an evolving workforce presents challenges for organizations looking to retain their best people. Baker Tilly director Caitlin Humrickhouse and senior manager Jada Kent recently led a discussion on this topic at the Crossroads of America leadership summit.  

Some of the key aspects of the conversation are highlighted below.  

Where things stand today 

People leave jobs for a variety of reasons, of course. Salary, stability and growth opportunities are three of the main reasons, but workplace environment and culture are also common motivators. 

While those themes have existed for decades, there are elements of the American workforce that have evolved in recent years. A couple of noteworthy ones include: 

• 68% of American workers say the ability to work both remotely and at the worksite is the ideal workplace model 
• 87% who have been working remotely want to keep working remotely at least one day a week 
• 33% of workers, approximately, would not want to work for an employer that required them to be on-site full time 

From an organizational standpoint, it is important to understand the key reasons why workers are attracted to their jobs, stay at those organizations, and feel engaged with their careers. And as noted earlier, it goes well beyond salary. When organizations focus solely on salary and ignore factors such as company culture, they end up in constant bidding wars with their competition – and you’ll never win all of those. Organizational culture is much easier to control and can be much more consistent over time.