I understand that talent retention has become an increasingly greater challenge for most companies – not only in technology but in general – which have to deal with people from different generations in the team and often lose employees with tremendous potential for reasons that could have been avoided. And why is this increasing?
What I’ve noticed, especially after the pandemic, is a ‘veiled exploitation’ of employees, offering inadequate working conditions, a toxic environment – to use the fashionable jargon -, with below-market salaries and often no benefits. Today, people have more options in the market and refuse to perform multiple roles without being adequately compensated.
Dissatisfaction can arise from various reasons, but when it hits the pocket, ‘it goes even deeper.’ Plus, employees, especially younger ones, rarely tolerate certain impositions silently and are often labeled as lazy or unwilling to work. And we know that often, this is not true.
According to the 2024 report by Talent Trends, a recruitment firm from Michael Page, about 28% of Brazilians, even while satisfied with their jobs, actively seek new opportunities. This data, combined with the rise in salary dissatisfaction – which increased from 39% to 52% in a year – signals a growing discontent in the job market.
Often, leadership loses great employees over trivial matters, refusing to raise salaries or offer benefits – even when recognizing the employee’s merit – or imposing conditions that do more harm than good. These small issues wear people down, leading them to seek other job opportunities where they can leave their current company and start anew elsewhere.
Companies need to be increasingly aware that they must change certain practices to attract and, most importantly, retain talent that’s already part of the team. It’s important to note that I’m not saying managers should do everything employees ask for, but they need active listening to provide better working conditions overall and growth opportunities.
Yes, salary or financial compensation is important, but even a good salary can become exhausting over time, depending on the work environment, which is primarily defined by leadership and management style. In this sense, using a tool like OKRs – Objectives and Key Results – can help in this process. You may be wondering: why?
The tool proposes that team members participate in setting goals, objectives, and results to be achieved at the end of the cycle. This not only benefits the company’s growth but also makes each employee feel more valued, as it helps them visualize how their work impacts the whole. This greatly increases employee engagement and supercharges efforts to achieve the desired results.
