Employee Pride: Your Best Weapon in the War for Talent
The War for Talent is real! According to NPR, unemployment rates continue to hover around the lowest they’ve been in the last 50 years. HR professionals and organizations feel this War for Talent on a daily basis, and most spend an enormous amount of time and resources on fighting this battle.
If you are looking for ways to attract and retain talent, the answer is right in front of you. It’s all about PRIDE!
When 85% of candidates are finding their new positions through networking, it’s more critical than ever that companies find ways to grow their employees’ pride in their work and their company, because that sense of pride translates to positive recommendations. Pride shines through when employees talk about work with their family or over a cup of coffee with a friend. It’s what they share on social media. You can see the pride in their words and in their actions. If your employees have pride in their company, they will adopt the company’s goals, connect with workplace values, do what’s best for the company and their teams, and will celebrate success…which fuels more pride.
Where Does an Employee’s Sense of Pride Come From?
Leadership – Are your leaders role models? Do they lead by example? If they do, your employees will be proud to serve with them along the journey.
Team – Do employees have positive relationships with their teams? Do they support each other? Do they collaborate on challenges and opportunities? If they do, they will be proud to celebrate together!
Impact – Are employees contributing to important initiatives? Do they feel like they are part of something bigger? Can they see a direct line into how their contributions impact the success of the company? If they do, they will be proud to advocate for the company.
Career – Do employees feels supported? Do they have growth opportunities? Are they learning every day? If so, they will be proud of their own accomplishments.
How Do You Know if Employees Have a Sense of Pride?
It is as simple as asking, listening, and observing. It’s important to have both informal and formal mechanisms such as: employee surveys, skip-level discussions, informal lunch and learns, town halls, and employee-led committees. By taking these steps and paying attention to the actions and words of employees, companies can clearly gauge their sense of pride and discover more opportunities to enhance that pride.
As HR professionals, it is our role to ensure that we inspire leadership to find these opportunities to grow employee pride and act on them. That is how we best impact the War for Talent within our organizations.
How Does Pride Win the War on Talent?
Pride wins by keeping employees engaged and committed to their company and their role. Pride wins by attracting others to join along the journey. At Merchants Fleet we’ve seen how pride positively impacts our organization daily: it’s in our employees embracing Innovation as our goal, in the 30-plus fleetiQ professionals who have joined our team in the lasts 15 months, in the 70 -plus promotions earned last year, and in the awards we’ve received for our culture!
Alicia Hart serves as the Vice President of Human Resources at Merchants Fleet. She joined the company in July 2003. Alicia is focused on providing an award-winning, great place to work for the 400+ employees who work at Merchants Fleet. She has spearheaded new initiatives to include extensive employee onboarding, wellness initiatives, and performance management. Under Alicia’s leadership, Merchants Fleet has been frequently named an award-winning place to work both locally and nationally.
