Stephanie Chavez, CTSM is the President at Zen Media and a Cynopsis Top Women in Media honoree for 2019.
We all know work is different in 2022. We’re living it, after all. And while much attention has been (and is being) paid to important things like mainstreaming remote work, investing in employee mental health and allowing flexible schedules, there’s a central, critical issue that I believe leaders need to put at the center of their focus: people’s search for meaning, enjoyment and passion in their work.
It’s this, not pay, that’s at the core of what’s being variously called the Great Resignation, the Great Attrition and the Great Reshuffle. And while this search is not a new concern for employees, it has absolutely been undervalued by companies for decades. So what can we, as CMOs, do about this?
Invest in the long-term employee experience as well as the short-term.
In order to address employees’ increased need for purpose and fulfillment, many businesses have devoted their efforts to events and activities: company team-building events, casual Fridays or internal branding exercises.
These are helpful, certainly, but they’re not going to stop your attrition. Instead, leaders need to prioritize the less tangible but no less significant elements of the employee experience: camaraderie, feeling heard, knowing that their job is significant and forging meaningful connections through the work that they do. One way we can do this is to make long-term investments in our people.
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For example, at Zen Media, we’ve been looking into insurance options that offer full tuition reimbursement for our employees so they can advance their careers and learn new skills. We also encourage—and offer worktime for—group learning through free courses, webinars and other educational opportunities.
Create high-value internship programs to support young professionals or those switching careers.
Another important factor in developing employee purpose and morale is to create pathways for employment or advancement. High-value internship programs that cultivate relationships with those starting out in their careers or shifting their careers is one method for helping create those pathways and connections.
Now, internship programs that have actual value for the intern are a serious time and resource investment and should be treated as such. There’s no way to give an intern a good experience without spending time upfront designing the program and designating points of contact and supervisors within your company. And this should go without saying in 2022, but interns should also be paid. Always. Once you put in the work to set up a strong internship program, however, the ROI is powerful.
In fact, here at Zen Media, we’ve hired six former interns, and they’ve each been a truly fabulous asset to our greater team. In many ways, our internship program thrives on giving interns real-life experience in the field, and at the same time, enables us to vet young professionals to see if they could be a potential long-term fit now or in the future. Each intern reports to their department head, the same as the rest of the department, and they are integrated into the larger departmental team. Our interns partner with full-time associates to help support client work, and they regularly meet with their department head to get feedback and support. In the end, the ultimate goal should always be about creating win-win situations.
That’s what the best internships do: serve the intern by offering real-world job experiences, a mentor and an extended network. And internships serve the company by providing the opportunity to cultivate talent and encourage prospective employees to apply for long-term jobs.
Make advancement opportunities more accessible.
In a recent study about the Great Attrition, McKinsey found that if they’re going to stay with a company, employees need to know that there’s room for advancement. They want to know that what they are doing now will have a positive, long-term impact on their careers and their lives as a whole. They don’t want to waste time at a dead-end job.
Executives and supervisors across the board need to be more proactive about letting employees—and interns—know that we will encourage their growth and promotion, even if it takes them out of our department or away from our team.
One way to help is to develop a mentoring or shadowing program at your company, pairing more experienced employees with newer ones or with employees who want to learn about a different department. This can accelerate career growth and help employees who are feeling unsatisfied with their positions find potential new avenues without leaving your company.
Employees are searching for meaning in their jobs because they want to stay at their jobs longer and build careers with lasting impact. Most employees don’t want to bounce around from company to company—but if they can’t find meaning and purpose in what they’re doing now, they’re more than willing to leave.
Making long-term investments in your people is an investment in the future. High-value internships, opportunities for advancement and ongoing learning, and developing mentoring and shadowing programs are just a few of the ways you can start showing your employees that you’re willing to do what it takes to help them find fulfillment.
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Author: Stephanie Chavez, Forbes Councils Member