The Long Game

A low unemployment rate in South Dakota has always presented challenges when it comes to attracting and hiring new employees. Now, with a shortage of workers, we have to get even more creative in our recruitment. Or should we be shifting our focus to retention?

Thanks to pandemic panic buying in 2020, we experienced a shortage of toilet paper, hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes. We had to quickly learn how to preserve the supplies we had to get through the shortage. Now, as we navigate the return to normal, we have an abundance of cleaning and sanitizing products, but we are experiencing a different shortage – workers. For those of us in talent acquisition, recruiting new employees is more challenging than ever.

Many companies are getting creative by offering signing bonuses, wage matches, free televisions and even mobile phones to anyone who will come work. In the short term, it might fill the need. But what about the long game? Will people stay or move to the next company with a better perk? Maybe it’s time for a shift in strategy. Let’s take the lesson of the 2020 shortages – preserve what you have—and focus less on instant gratification and perks, and more on job satisfaction and retention.  While we still have our share of challenges, below are a few examples of how we work to retain employees at PREMIER.

Take Care of Your People

At PREMIER, we’ve always said our employees are our number one asset and we have to take care of them. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, we didn’t just talk, we walked the walk. As an essential service, PREMIER had to balance the health and safety of its teams along with the needs of its customers and communities. Like most companies, PREMIER followed CDC guidance, consulted local and state health officials, implemented remote work, put safety protocols in place, and socially distanced the workforce. Then we took “valuing people” a step further.

• When daycares and schools began closing, our leadership gave every employee an additional week of paid time off to address family-related issues.
• Every employee was given a $600 COVID payment to help offset financial matters.
• Two additional weeks of sick pay were given to employees that tested positive or had someone living in their household test positive.
• Each employee received a $50 gift card to a local restaurant of their choice. This helped boost morale and supported our local communities.
• Throughout the year, we added even more PTO days and relaxed our dress code. We then gave employees a $50 credit to the corporate store.
• During the fall/winter surge, another COVID payment was given, along with a holiday gift of wireless earbuds and a $100 gift card for local shopping.
• In spring of 2021, our Board of Directors surprised employees and recognized their incredible efforts by giving a tiered bonus based on length of employment.

Through it all, our employees told us they felt the company cared about them and their wellbeing. PREMIER was recognized for these efforts and more by being named one of the Best Banks to Work For (6th consecutive year) by American Banker magazine.

Listening & Implementing

In research conducted by Salesforce, employees who felt heard were four times as likely to give their best effort at work. When employees don’t feel like management cares, they often seek out other opportunities. Each year, PREMIER sends our 2,300+ employees a survey. We ask questions and solicit open feedback on everything from benefits to teamwork to how we make the workplace better. We also provide an internal intranet, where our associates can give us their ideas and suggestions at any time. Our leadership teams review everything and act on those items that need addressing. This feedback has been invaluable. Not only does this improve with retention, but it has also made us more efficient thanks to the implementation of new processes suggested by employees.

Employee Appreciation

Did you know 79% of people leave their job because they feel unappreciated and undervalued? Appreciation can come in many forms. It can be as simple as an email, handwritten note or conversation. Some companies celebrate achievements at meetings, luncheons or with special awards. Gifts and money are also ways to show appreciation for a job well done. PREMIER likes to show its gratitude by hosting exclusive events like private concerts from artists like Luke Bryant, Dave Matthews Band, Keith Urban, One Republic and more. During COVID, we showed our appreciation with extra paid benefits and bonuses to ease some of the stress of being an essential worker. Appreciation doesn’t have to cost a lot, but a lack of it could cost you valuable employees.

Career Advancement

Harvard Business Review surveyed 400,000 U.S. workers and found that people who understood how to get promoted in a company were more than twice as likely to stay. With this in mind, we restructured our onboarding process in 2020 and included a clear career path review. Managers also perform monthly milestone meetings to help employees achieve their goals. In some positions, a high-performing person could get two promotions in their very first year.

Personal and Professional Growth

A people-first company wants its employees to be the best they can be both inside and outside the workplace. Through our PREMIER University, we offer both professional and personal growth opportunities. We bring inspirational and motivational speakers from all over the country to our market communities. We also provide work-specific training, personal finance classes, budgeting basics and leadership/coaching courses. The events of 2020 made our corporate health and wellness initiatives even more important. The PREMIER Kickstart program focuses on all seven dimensions of wellness – physical, emotional, intellectual, social, spiritual, environmental and occupational. This includes onsite health screenings, healthy snacks and quarterly challenges.

Balancing Recruitment and Retention

According to Zenefits, U.S. companies spend about $2.9 million per day looking for employee replacements. That was before COVID changed our workplaces. In today’s market, we’re finding it even more costly to recruit. That’s why I believe we need to find a blend of both recruitment and retention, with a higher priority on keeping the employees we have. That may mean a larger investment in employees and a major shift in company culture. It’s not easy and it’s costly no matter how you crunch the numbers. But as 2020 taught us, preserving your current supply is invaluable to surviving a shortage.

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