Top 5 Talent Trends for 2023

It feels like everyone is anxious for this year as two things are unpredictable: the state of the business market and the talent turnover rates. Everyone is asking us what the key focus will be for talent management and human resources in 2023. No matter if a recession finally happens or not, companies need to retain their best talent and stop the resignation cycle.

Based on our research and our cross-industry client partnerships, here are the Stoke Leadership Top 5 Talent trends of 2023:

1. Listen for engagement - Pre-pandemic, employee engagement levels were already low with Gallup estimating over 70% of employees were somewhat or very disengaged. Over the last few years, further disengagement has occurred due to debate over remote or hybrid work policies, the publicity of “quiet quitting”, and the exhaustion that comes with always being understaffed. Companies this year need to focus on listening, discussing, and re-engaging with each individual employee.
2. Trust is Earned - In a recent Achievers study at Google, they found the number one retention tool for employee engagement is building trust. Organizations first need to focus on building institutional trust through clear communications, opportunities for the company to listen with employees, and reacting to employee feedback. Secondly, organizations need to focus on relational trust by training managers to build better relationships with individuals. Managers need to elevate collaboration, team focused opportunities, and openings to develop others. Through trust comes more opportunity for flexibility, career growth, and innovation.
3. Extinguish the Burnout Fire - Studies show burnout is the new pandemic! One big way to “Rescue the Corporate Exhausted Hero” is to help individuals prioritize their work. What is important now, and what can wait? To manage burnout, companies are focused on setting quarterly goals by individual, developing better one-on-one meetings with bosses, and scheduling quarterly team retreats to clarify priorities. Corporate Exhausted Heroes have built bad habits of trying to do it all with our hair on fire. It is time to be strategic about workload and burnout.
4. Author “How to Get Promoted” - It is time for companies to rewrite this book for their organization. Although employee turnover was caused by many factors , most former employees reported “I didn’t understand how to get to the next step in my career.” HR teams and consultants are quickly building career architectures to help design a pathway to a longer-term career at their company. This includes career paths, competency/behavior models, and career conversation frameworks. But no career architecture is as effective as a robust conversation between employee and manager.
5. Non-negotiable High Potential Retention - The strategy before the pandemic was to load up high potential talent with meaningful and challenging work to keep them engaged. During the pandemic, this overwhelmed and exhausted the best talent. They did not feel personal investment and felt used by the company, resulting in their resignation. It is non-negotiable…companies MUST invest to retain! Companies need to build individualized plans to retain their best talent. Many are building new compensation strategies, new leadership development strategies, or building new roles to give their best talent a seat at the table. They are not just the future… They are the now!