Study Concludes That Workforce Instability Is Number One Fear of HR Professionals

Companies across the United States are facing a growing problem. Their workforce is slipping away.

More than two-thirds of human resource (HR) professionals feel that attracting and retaining workers is the biggest threat to bottom-line profitability, according to a survey released today by Oklahoma City-based Express Personnel Services, an international staffing and human resource company with nearly 600 offices in 47 states and three other countries (Canada, South Africa and Australia).

As the economy continues to grow and the Baby Boomers retire, companies are facing stiffer competition for top talent. That doesn’t bode well for employers. Nearly half (47%) of the responses from HR professionals indicated employee retention was their No. 1 concern.

Organizations that step up and boost their retention strategies will come out ahead, increasing productivity, profitability and employee loyalty, according to Robert A. Funk, founder and chairman of Express Personnel Services. In addition, companies that do a good job of retaining workers will become preferred places to work, resulting in people wanting to stay and a line of people wanting to come on board.

Managers have many tools in their arsenal to stave off employee desertion. Funk added that recognizing those tools is one thing — knowing how to best utilize those tools is even more important.

“There is more to retention than offering competitive salaries, paid time off and insurance benefits,” Funk said. “By building trust, providing regular feedback, conducting effective annual performance reviews and giving appropriate rewards, supervisors and managers can lead their employees to a greater sense of commitment, increasing customer service, profitability and productivity.”

“Nurturing a committed and satisfied workforce will pay for itself many times over in higher employee retention, increased productivity and more satisfied customers, which, in turn, will drive companies to reach the next level,” Funk said.

In the Express Personnel Services survey, HR professionals identified the top critical concerns facing companies: retention/turnover (47%), recruiting/hiring (20%), training (19%), teamwork/teambuilding (9%) and morale (5%).

Express conducted the survey to determine what issues were top-of-mind with HR professionals. The survey questions were open-ended and distributed to a sample of attendees at 167 Express training and development workshops, yielding 935 responses from HR professionals.

In response to the survey results, Express franchisees have introduced a much-needed educational and leadership development program for managers and supervisors. The training helps HR professionals and business leaders learn how to better lead their employees. It focuses on four main topics: building trust, giving performance reviews, providing regular feedback and rewarding employees.

Express Services’ client base extends through four countries and employs 325,000 people annually. Company sales totaled $1.55 billion in 2005. Express provides expertise in: temporary staffing/evaluation and direct hire; contract and executive recruiting and placement; and customized human resource services.