To Retain Talent, Focus on These 4 New Realities

Numerous studies released over the summer have discussed the future of work in the United States because of the pandemic. According to one recent survey of American workers, at least 1 in 4 employees will be looking for new opportunities, while another found 40% of workers globally are considering leaving their jobs.

And workers aren’t waiting for the pandemic to end. Other research indicates that one-third of employees have already changed jobs over the last year. Doing a simple internet search on the future of work shows that employees have changed how they work.

We don’t know yet how the independent financial advisory profession is tracking along with these estimates, but the financial services industry has been hit hard, with the highest turnover of people in its history.

When the results of the health care crisis do finally come out, I believe independent advisory firms will — unfortunately — be part of the group that loses talented people in record numbers. I believe this because it’s remarkable how many calls our consulting firm is getting regarding help with turnover.

The shutdowns of 2020 caught many firms flat-footed in how they transitioned out of the office. And now, transitioning back to the office has caught firms flat-footed as well. Reentering the working world of “before” is no simple process, and the firms that treat it as such will lose the most team ­members.

Your firm doesn’t have to experience that. But you will have to adjust your thinking to avoid it.

Importance of Life Rhythms

In the late summer of 2020, my firm began talking with our clients about what returning to work might look like. It was still early in the pandemic, but those conversations were necessary to have early.

Without preparation, our clients knew that the shift back to the office would be difficult whenever it did occur. Interestingly, those conversations revolved more around health and wellness than traditional human capital conversations such as compensation or benefits. We focused on intangibles such as culture, empathy and compassion.

As those discussions evolved, I began to think of how often we go through changes in rhythm and routine throughout our lives. The best example is when we go from high school to ­college.

In high school, and the years before, our lives were fairly rigid. We were usually in class from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., and then might have had after-school activities like sports practice. The day and our responsibilities were dictated to us.

The transition to college could not be more different. Suddenly, we found ourselves in total freedom. Our first class might have been at 10 a.m. one day and 2 p.m. another. Some days there might have been work, and others there might not. We discovered a new rhythm of life as we constructed our own routines for the first time.

But after college, we were pulled back to the old rhythm as we entered the workforce. This was the first reentry. Suddenly, we were again being told where to be from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. five days a week. Our ability to create our own routine vanished.

The pandemic threw people back into a period where they could construct their own routines as they did in their college years. Some thrived; others failed. But now that re-entry to the office is on the horizon, we again have to face a transition like the one that happened after college.

If you want your firm’s re-entry period to go well, you need to understand how the pandemic has changed the way people work and how they think about work. It may help you to think about how you approached the shift from high school to college, and then to your first job after graduation.

When it comes down to it, though, advisory firms should pay attention to four key areas.

4 New Workplace Realities

If you want to keep your talented employees, you must focus on what matters to them. Most firms think this means compensation — and that is the wrong place to begin. For employees, work has become a matter of lifestyle first and compensation second.