4 Employee Recruitment Strategies for Microsoft Partners to Overcome The Great Resignation
Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes
Intended Audience: B2B Business Owners, Microsoft Partners, Hiring Managers
The last few years have been challenging for businesses to say the least. From battling a global pandemic that forced many businesses to go fully remote, to mass resignations from long-term employees; it feels like we’ve been living in ‘unprecedented times’ for far too long.
While we’re still dealing with the knock-on effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel with restrictions easing, and many elements of normal lives resuming. However, The Great Resignation still dooms and glooms for employers today.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported over 47 million Americans voluntarily quit their jobs last year, and this number is only increasing. This mass exit from the workforce has skyrocketed job openings to a record high of 11 million open jobs in the USA alone. As a result, there is a high demand for workers. The problem is job seekers now expect much more than just fair wages and a ping-pong table in the lunchroom, making it harder to fulfill the demand-supply equilibrium. This has left many organizations looking for new ways to attract and retain talent.
So, how can Microsoft Partners adapt to these changes?
The Downturn of Employee Recruitment for MS Partners
Before we dive into ‘the how’, let’s cover ‘the why’.
While the pandemic certainly had a severely negative impact, it did bring to light a few positive changes. It presented many employees with the opportunity to work fully remote for the first time ever. That meant no commuting, a better work-life balance and more flexible scheduling options, ultimately creating a more positive employee experience.
Now with restrictions easing and even fully lifted in many parts of the USA and Canada, organizations have ordered employees back to the office. It’s no surprise that after 2+ years of working remotely, workers realize they can easily do their jobs from home and there is no added benefit to them being back at the office full-time.
How Microsoft Partners Can Overcome The Great Resignation
As job seekers’ priorities change, MS Partners struggle to attract and retain high-quality talent to meet their business demands. Employers must understand the needs of employees, whether they are financial, health, mental, wellness or personal. MS Partners will have to rethink their existing recruitment strategies and understand what job seekers expect from their employers today.
Here are four key strategies to overcome ‘The Great Resignation’ and boost employee recruitment for your organization:
1. Stretch & Flex
Given the newfound work-life balance employees have discovered with the ability to work remotely, many organizations have opted to keep a remote work option or hybrid approach to returning to the office. Hybrid work options are increasingly popular for many organizations and employees alike because it gives the option to split their time working remotely and working at the office when and if they choose to come in.
A recent report indicates that 58% of workers would like to work fully remote, while 39% want a hybrid work environment. That means that a whopping 97% of workers want some form of flexible working options! It’s understandable when you factor in the time it takes for employees to commute into the office, not to mention the price of gas, mass transit and/or parking.
With higher productivity, more savings and a better work-life balance, flexibility for the workforce is a top priority for job seekers and will remain that way for the foreseeable future. Microsoft Partners that aren’t enthusiastic about this will see a decline in fresh applicants and talented new hires.
HOT TIP: simply mention ‘work from home’ or ‘hybrid workforce’ in your job posting, career page and LinkedIn Company Page to increase your number of applicants!
2. Rethink & Reimagine
Years ago, employee benefits typically meant your standard extended health and dental. Now, employee benefits encompass the overall employment and compensation package, from extended health to additional wellness initiatives and unique office perks.
The modern workforce expects a good benefits package that includes health and wellness, structured work-life balance, and additional mental well-being perks. An example of something you could include is a health spending account that covers things like gym passes, veterinarian costs, child care, prenatal classes, sporting goods, fitness equipment, home office equipment and more. The options are endless and up to you.
Prior to The Great Resignation, employee benefits and perks were just one of the ways for employers to stand out in the job market. Now, it’s essential. Failing to meet these expectations will result in your organization losing out on top talent. In fact, 62% of employees identified employee well-being as a key deciding factor when applying for a new job.
In addition to competitive wages, an attractive compensation package should include retirement benefits, health insurance, wellness perks and other relevant benefits that contribute to a positive workplace.
3. Map, Mentor & Lead
We’ve established that the modern workforce is considering more than just salary when looking for jobs; they are looking at the total compensation package which includes things like vacation time, extended health benefits, additional wellness benefits and unique office perks. One thing that often gets overlooked by employers is career development. Today’s employee wants to work in a company that provides ample opportunity for continued learning and ongoing career development.
Career growth is highly important to today’s job seekers, and this goes hand in hand with ensuring there is career development opportunities for them. An added bonus is that offering career development is one of the best ways to retain existing employees.
We recommend setting aside budget for things like:
- Conferences
- Workshops
- Skills classes
- Courses
Some organizations are even willing to pay for employees to upgrade their post-secondary schooling and pursue the next phase of their degree. This is a win-win for Microsoft Partners because it not only helps attract and retain top talent, it ensures employees are constantly getting better at their jobs which directly benefits the company.
4. Envision & Invoke
Last, ensure you are communicating all your new benefits, flexibility and perks by building a dedicated Careers webpage. Careers pages are a great way to showcase what your organization does differently and why an applicant would want to work there.
Share what the culture is like at your company with photos of team events or charitable causes that are important to your employees. You can include some of the office perks you offer, such as allowing employees to bring their dogs to work or providing employees with free transit/parking passes. Anything that makes your company stand out from the hundreds of other like-minded companies hiring for the same roles.
Ultimately, your career page helps create a strong employer brand. And according to HR, 48% of organizations say developing a strong employer brand is their most effective practice for attracting and hiring new talent.
HOT TIP: Include the same benefits and flexible work environment on your LinkedIn Company Page as well to garner more applicants through your LinkedIn job listings.
Improving Microsoft Partner Employee Recruitment
While we don’t see The Great Resignation slowing down anytime soon, at some point the demand and supply between job applicants and the job market will even out. However, the workforce’s demands to have a flexible working environment, better employee well-being and beneficial work-life balance, and more opportunity for learning is here to stay. MS Partners must evolve alongside the Modern Workforce to meet these demands or it is likely those that are experiencing challenges hiring and retaining top talent today will continue to see this result. Drive employee retention and recruitment by following the above four employee recruitment strategies to differentiate yourself as an MS Partner that stands out from the sea of sameness and overcome The Great Resignation challenges while doing so.
If you want to learn more about differentiating your Microsoft Partner practice from the sea of sameness, sign up to receive our Microsoft Partner Marketing B.E.A.C.H. weekly email series for your FREE crash course today!
