I understand that talent retention has been an increasingly major challenge for many companies – not only in technology but in general – that need to deal with people from different generations on their teams and often lose employees with enormous potential for reasons that could have been avoided. And why do you think this is increasing?
What I have noticed, especially after the pandemic, is a 'covert exploitation' of employees, offering inadequate working conditions, a toxic environment – to use the trendy jargon – with salaries below the market and, often, without benefits. Today, people have more opportunities in the market and do not accept having to perform many functions without being adequately compensated for it.
Dissatisfaction can arise from various reasons, but when it comes to money, the situation is even worse. Not to mention that employees, especially the younger ones, do not usually remain silent about certain impositions and, for this reason, are often labeled as lazy or unwilling to work. And we know that, many times, it's not true.
According to the 2024 report by Talent Trends, a recruitment and selection company of Michael Page, about 28% of Brazilians, even being satisfied with their jobs, are actively seeking new opportunities. This data, combined with the increase in salary dissatisfaction – which rose from 39% to 52% in one year – signals a growing dissatisfaction in the labor market.
Often, leadership loses great employees over trivial matters, such as refusing to increase their salary or provide some benefit—even when recognizing the merit in that employee—or because they imposed conditions that do more harm than good. These small things end up wearing people out, causing them to seek other job opportunities so they can leave the company they are in and start a new job elsewhere.
Companies need to be increasingly aware that they must change certain behaviors in order to attract and, most importantly, retain talents who are already part of the team. It is important to emphasize that I am not saying that managers should do everything employees want, but they need to have active listening to be able to provide better working conditions overall and growth opportunities.
Yes, salary or financial compensation is important, but even a good salary can become tiring over time, depending on the work environment, which is basically defined by leadership and the management style. In this sense, using a tool like OKRs – Objectives and Key Results – can help in this process. You must be wondering: why?
The tool proposes that team members be involved in the development of goals, objectives, and results to be achieved at the end of the cycle, which, besides being important for the company's growth, will make each employee feel more valued, as it allows them to see how their work impacts the whole. This greatly increases employee engagement and will give a boost to the efforts to achieve the desired results.
