With post-pandemic conditions still in flux, small/medium businesses need help adapting to new compensation and culture expectations

DENVER, CO, USA, October 26, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The so-called “Great Resignation” has been its own epidemic. Earlier this month, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released its latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary report, which revealed a record-breaking 4.3 million Americans voluntarily quit their jobs. One popular but too-convenient narrative holds that many people would rather stay unemployed and collect extra social support benefits during this time of COVID-19 recovery. Far more likely is that the pandemic only magnified trends that were already pressuring businesses — trends around changing workforce expectations and how executives are dealing with them. Companies that fail to implement effective strategies which acknowledge these changes may soon find themselves struggling to retain labor as they fall drastically behind their competition. Thrive HR Consulting, a fractional CHRO and HR services specialist, has identified the key areas businesses need to address in this new landscape and is now helping clients navigate their way to higher morale and greater total productivity.

Office Exodus

An April 2021 McKinsey study showed that, before COVID-19, 38% of workers either wanted to work from home (WFH) or have “hybrid” work that allowed the work week to split between home and office. That number exploded to 63% following the pandemic shutdown, once workers discovered that full WFH was a viable option. Numerous studies show that overall WFH worker productivity is up significantly, and Upwork data revealed that “remote work is getting easier” while “the number of remote workers in the next five years is expected to be nearly double what it was before COVID-19.

Whether or not executives embrace hybrid and WFH models, it’s increasingly clear that this is what workers want and expect. Many are willing to leave jobs and even refuse interviews if such options aren’t available. That doesn’t stop more conservative firms and management from trying to enforce the old paradigm.

Thrive HR lead and co-founder Reynaldo Ramirez notes, “You’ve got executives telling everyone, ‘Get your butt back here by August!’ Next thing you know, it’s September, no one’s come back, and they’re like, ‘Okay…be back by October!’ When that doesn’t work, they threaten to start paying people according to wherever they’re at rather than headquarters rates. It’s confused and bitter, and it’s a mess playing out across the country.”

Ramirez adds that the situation grows even thornier when hybrid and WFH employees change residence locations. A Bay Area worker who opts to move to more affordable Colorado may incur different or additional taxes, which creates a new set of complexity for both parties.

New Demand Dynamics

Along with the move into remote work, the overall labor shortage accompanies a shift in power from company to worker. The labor market is far more competitive now, with applicants receiving multiple offers. Organizations face levels of push-back around compensation and opportunity they may never have experienced before. (Last month, a Lattice survey found that 76% of employees reported being “somewhat or very likely to leave a company” due to dissatisfaction with available opportunities for professional advancement.) Not surprisingly, these organizations find themselves needing help in adapting to this new labor environment.

Thrive HR lead and co-founder Jason Walker points to one client, a 100-person startup based in San Jose, CA, that had been experiencing lower morale and a rising quit rate. The company turned to Thrive HR for help.

“Our team scoured the company’s pay data and job descriptions,” says Walker. “We matched roles to market data and made recommendations for each employee’s base pay, incentive pay, and sales commission pay when applicable. We also conducted an internal equity analysis to ensure no disparities between gender and minority employee pay across the organization. Executives acted on our advice for employees with below-market conditions. We helped the leadership team toward a better understanding of the market and, more importantly, drove down turnover as the organization implemented a better approach for spending salary budgets.”

From Questions to Answers

The present turmoil raises a host of questions, including:

• If employees are going to be remote, how can corporate culture be preserved?
• How should employers collect performance data from remote workers?
• Should companies continue to maintain the cost of expensive corporate facilities in the face of WFH workforce dispersion?
• Should workers be compensated on national or local pay structures?
• If companies adopt a hybrid work model, how often should workers be in the office, and is that policy true for everyone?
• What additional benefits should be added onto base pay, and are those benefits different for WFH staff?

Thrive HR’s Walker emphasizes that many companies fall into the trap of trying to tackle compensation issues individually. He argues that this is bound to leave strategic gaps; a holistic approach will yield superior results. However, many companies are unfamiliar with how to reevaluate compensation and culture on a holistic basis. Thrive HR specializes in guiding small- to mid-sized organizations through this process. The time for such guidance has never been more imperative.

About Thrive HR Consulting:

Thrive HR Consulting is a Silicon Valley; Austin, TX; and Denver, CO-based, minority-owned HR Advisory that provides fractional CHRO Support and value-based HR support. Thrive supports your HR needs virtually or in person. Our team’s specialties include Mergers and Acquisitions, C-Suite executive coaching, employee relations, diversity, inclusion and belonging millennial consulting, performance management, employee engagement, talent acquisitions and digital HR transformation, and the ability to improve overall HR performance for your organization. For more information, visit www.thrivehrconsulting.com.

Beatriz Arana
EnergiaCommCorp
beatriz.arana@energiacommunications.com

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