The Bagg Group Blog

One-third of the workforce has been hit hard by spring fever this year. 

At the end of March, the insurance provider MetLife released its ninth annual Employee Benefits Trends Study.  While the survey polled US organizations, the findings highlight trends that are sweeping across all of North America. Restlessness is happening in Ontario as much as elsewhere. 

In the MetLife poll, no less than one in three employees reported that they want to work for another employer in the next 12 months.

Loyalty to employers has been ebbing over the last several years.  The survey showed that three years ago 59% of full-time employees said they felt attached to their employer. But in the last quarter of 2010, only 47% reported the same devotion.  

In reviewing the study, Anthony J. Nugent, executive VP at MetLife, attributed the loss of loyalty to the legacy of “do more with less” demands placed on downsized workforces of the past years.

 At The Bagg Group, we get many calls from employees seeking new opportunities because they are worn thin by having to shoulder the workloads of those who were let go as part of a restructuring. 

Interestingly, it’s the highest performers who are more likely to shop for new opportunities in the GTA.  The MetLife survey noted the same phenomenon in the US.

After speaking with hundreds of A-level talent, The Bagg Group recruiters confirm that it’s never hard work that defeats the best employees. Instead, top talent look elsewhere when they are forced to devote too much time and energy to tasks that don’t require their skill or expertise.  As a result, they’re frustrated because they’re unable to focus on work at which they can make the most difference, and which offers learning and growth potential.  

Yet many employers appear unaware of the downward trend in loyalty.  About half (51%) reported that their employees feel the same strong loyalty toward them today as they did several years ago.

The reality is nobody can afford to take anybody for granted nowadays.  Loyalty isn’t a given, it needs to be fostered.  And with four decades of experience in best workplace practices, we know that the way to nurture loyalty is to open the line of communications between employees and their direct reports. 

The most effective solution to workplace frustrations always start to take shape during candid conversations between employees and their employers.

In the case of work overload, there is always an answer. The Bagg Group staffing solution experts work with organizations of all sizes, across the GTA, to create and fill new positions, hire experts on contract to take over projects, or bring in temporary placements to handle tasks.  The result is higher employee retention and greater productivity.

But we can’t emphasize enough that an employee-employer relationship is just that – a relationship.  And we all know that when two people in any relationship don’t communicate honestly and openly, at least one will dream about leaving.  So in these times when high-performing employees say they are dreaming about jumping ship, start talking about how to make the relationship work.

As many of you know, The Bagg Group has been conducting a survey of 200 private and public sector organizations in the GTA.

Latest findings show  better times ahead.  There are more employers in the GTA  that plan to add staff, rather than reduce their numbers, in 2010.  

In particular, 22% of organizations with less than 100 employees said they anticipate adding staff, while 20% of those who have between 100 and 500 employees and 15 % of organizations over 500 staff reported plans to hire.

For the 15% that said there may be a reduction, the majority were employers of 100  to 500 people. 

And when it comes to hiring staff, we learned that even in this age of do-it-yourself everything, the majority of organizations recognize the value of leaving recruitment  to the staffing solution experts.

While 28% of respondents said they may attempt the task on their own by using job boards, the others gave three reasons  for turning to a staffing agency:  They said the don’t have the time, their staff are too busy, and they don’t have the necessary expertise to do the best possible recruitment.

Unanimously, they noted that a staffing search is more time-consuming than ever before as more people are looking.  The Globe and Mail reported this summer that 54% of Americans are hoping to leave their current position for better jobs.  And in the GTA, we are seeing similar wave of restlessness among the employed.  

As I noted in a blog this spring  (In a recession, employers abide by two golden rules), quantity just means more resources are necessary to sort through the mountain of resumes to find appropriate fits. 

Typically, only three out of 100 responses are potentially suitable for your job opportunity. At The Bagg Group, we meet face-to-face with every prospective candidate. And on average, we recommend less than 30% of all those we interview to our clients.

Hiring authorities in companies across the GTA seeking to fill full-time positions or contract positions know that it will take an enormous amount of their time just to get an initial list together.  And nowadays, in most organizations, people are stretched thin as it is.

With that in mind, companies are more keen than ever to retain A-level talent. And the way to make that happen in this economy is to allow your best employees to focus on their areas of expertise. 

At the Bagg Group, our staffing solution experts hear every day from A-level people who want to find another job because they are de-motivated by having to spend much of their day handling  junior-level tasks that do not require their skill set.  

Our survey showed  the two most popular solutions of top employers in the GTA is to determine priorities for each task, and to hire temporary and contract workers to help balance the workload for those who are doing the job of two.

In these busy times when there just aren’t enough hours in a day, when you help your staff succeed, you help yourself.