How to keep employees during a labour shortage

Earlier in June, the Canadian Tourism Human Resource Council released its labour supply and demand study titled, The Future of Canada’s Tourism Sector. I posed a question on the STEC Facebook Page at the time. (If you're game for a little bit of fun, go visit our Facebook page before reading any further and try out the little quiz I posted there on June 6. In it, I've asked you to take a guess at rating the top non-wage benefits that help employee retention.)

This study quantifies the implications of long-term demographic and economic trends on labour supply and demand in Canada’s tourism sector, and outlines potential labour shortages over the next 20 years by industry, by province, and by occupation.

The CTHRC study warns of a looming 20-year labour shortage. Saskatchewan is among five provinces to be especially hard-hit, with a projected shortage equal to 1,227 full time jobs within a year. By 2030, that shortfall could rise to 7,396 unless businesses begin to act now.

In shortest supply: chefs, other kitchen workers, entry-level counter staff and housekeeping room attendants.

The report outlines strategies for tourism employers to improve their labour supply, including non-wage benefits that are most attractive to Canadian workers and that are most likely to help employers retain their workforce.

While preparing the report, the CTHRC surveyed 1,000 workers - employed or looking for employment - and asked them what non-wage goodies would either keep them with their current employers or entice them to work with one employer rather than another. The resulting 23 benefits - especially the top 10 - might surprise you. There's a different top 10 depending on whether or not you make over $100,000 a year, whether or not you already have a job, and how old you are.

For Canadians who are currently employed, here are the most important non-wage benefits keeping them with their current employer:

1. vacation time of more than two weeks.
2. health and dental plans.
3. short- and long-term disability benefits.
4. employee life insurance.
5. registered pension plan.
6. flex time/flexible hours.
7. formal professional development.
8. informal professional development.

In other words, if you're looking to retain staff, you should carefully consider providing these highly rated benefits to employees if you are not already.

In the middle are the non-wage benefits that might or might not matter to employees. These vary greatly in importance, depending on employees' current income and age! You'll need to do your homework and have a good understanding of your employees as individuals before you make decisions about these benefits:

• Group RRSP.
• Employee discounts/free services.
• Sales bonuses and/or commissions.
• Company car/mileage allowance.
• Profit-sharing plan.
• Maternity/parental leave.

At the very bottom of the list, of least interest to employees:

• cell phone/smart phone.
• fitness club membership.
• telecommuting/home-based work.
• on-site fitness centre.
• association memberships
• job sharing.
• tickets to events.
• bus or subway passes.

If you're currently putting most of your effort into those benefits at the bottom of the list, you likely aren't having much of an effect on employee turnover. That's not a good thing in the face of a labour shortage. Of course, if you're not doing anything on any of these lists, that's even worse!

I've been looking around at various employee recognition/retention programs that are offered to employers. Surprisingly, most "turnkey" programs focus on benefits at the bottom of the scale - the freebies, discounts, "perqs" and other stuff that employees don't particularly want or care about and that doesn't make any difference in helping employers retain their staff. These programs all but neglect the most important non-wage benefits near the top of the list.

A lot of employers subscribe to group benefit plans separately from other retention programs, and that's something that every employer should consider, no matter how big or small. But there's still a large gap in non-wage benefits that employers need for workforce retention. Professional development, whether formal or informal, is the biggest unfulfilled demand in most small to medium businesses, and it's one area where a little investment can pay out big results. It sounds complicated, but it doesn't have to be. It's basically a matter of making sure that employees are given the opportunity to develop the skills and knowledge to do their jobs and serve their customers well. It might mean helping employees earn professional certification as front line workers, supervisors or managers. It could involve encouraging employees to apprentice toward journeyperson in a tourism or other trade. It could be as simple as enrolling in half-day or day-long workshops in customer service, responsible liquor service, or sales techniques. Just as important as the training or development is the follow-through. Don't give your employees the tools to do their jobs better and give customers more satisfaction and then expect everyone to keep doing things the way they were always done.

As we get closer to a serious labour crunch, employers are going to have to take a much closer look at their retention practices. Hanging out a "help wanted" sign just won't help any more.