May 1, 2023
Hello, and a very warm welcome to you, month of May!
It’s encouraging to see nature here in New England slowly greening up and flowering out. Cinco de Mayo is this Friday – I hope you have a chance to enjoy a margarita, if that’s your thing. Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms on the 14th, and I know we’re all looking forward to the trifecta of summer long weekends – Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Labor Day. This month kicks it all off, and I for one am here for it.
So much of our content in this newsletter centers on a familiar theme: concerns over talent recruitment and retention. The most recent data from the BLS showed that the U.S. jobs market remains strong, with the participation of prime-age workers in the labor market at a 20 year high, and the 3.5% unemployment rate at a 50 year low.
For those employers worried about securing their existing and future talent (read: all employers), creating a positive employee and candidate experience is crucial.
On point, Lisa DeSisto, CEO and Publisher of the Portland Press Herald, told us in her Stakeholder interview, that the biggest external challenge she is facing is the workforce shortage – exacerbated by the pandemic and showing no signs of easing.
One strategy for addressing this talent dilemma is to define and develop an EVP (Employee Value Proposition), which is a key element of your employer brand. The EVP is more than just material offerings like pay and benefits, and it’s more than flexibility or other perks, important as these might be.
It represents a company’s essence, its mission and values, the opportunities for professional development, connection and purpose at work, and all the ways it stands apart from other employers.
You can go deeper on this subject with Anita Krieg, our Director of Compensation and Internal Operations, whose article offers a five-step plan for developing an EVP.
If you haven’t put much thought and strategy into your EVP, or if you’d like to speak with us about an HR, Recruiting or Compensation challenge you need help with, please reach out to us
Encouraging Employees to Set Work/Life Boundaries
This article from the HR Support Center, on how to encourage employees to set work/life boundaries, addresses hustle culture and how it leads to burnout, and ultimately a loss of productivity and higher quit rates. It’s another prong in the conversation on how to create a workplace environment in which employees are thriving and less vulnerable to being hired away by a competitor, or quitting outright.
Candidate Tip of the Month
Stuck in your job search? Here are five pointers to get you moving again:
- Take a career quiz, like this one: https://www.princetonreview.com/quiz/career-quiz
- What are you really good at, and what skills would you like to build on?
- Research different roles by looking at job descriptions. What inspires you?
- Decide how much flexibility you need in where and when you work.
- Use your network: connect with your contacts and let them know what you’re looking for. Don’t be shy!
KMA in the Community
We had a great time at the Tri-State HR Convention last week at Mohegan Sun, seeing some familiar friends and making lots of new ones.
Thanks to all who stopped by our booth to say hello and learn more about KMA.
The speakers offered unique and astute insights into some of the challenges businesses leaders are facing today.
We came away inspired and energized!
Left to right: Marie Tobin, me and Patty Lyons-Bousquet