Fall Labor Forecast: 6 Ways Employers Can Keep Good Employees Engaged

Fall Labor Forecast: 6 Ways Employers Can Strengthen Employee Retention

September often feels like a reset in the workplace.

Summer vacations are winding down, school is back in session, schedules are becoming more predictable, and many businesses are turning their attention toward the final months of the year.

It's also a great time for employers to take a closer look at something that can easily get lost in the day-to-day demands of running a business: employee retention.

Before heading into the busy fall and year-end season, take a temperature check on your team.

Are your best employees engaged? Are workloads sustainable? Do employees know what's expected of them? And perhaps most importantly, do the people you want to keep have reasons to stay?

Retention doesn't always require expensive new benefits or major company-wide initiatives. Often, the everyday employee experience has the greatest influence on whether someone sees a future with an organization, or starts looking elsewhere.

Here are six areas worth evaluating as we head into fall.

1. Check In With Your Most Reliable Employees

Your dependable employees can sometimes be the easiest to overlook.

They're the people who show up, know their jobs, solve problems, and rarely require additional attention from management. Because they're reliable, it's easy to assume everything is fine.

Don't make that assumption.

Fall is a good time to reconnect after the disruptions of summer schedules. Ask what's working, what's frustrating them, and whether there is anything they need to be more successful in their role.

You may uncover a relatively small problem before it becomes a reason for a valuable employee to leave.

2. Take a Look at Workloads After Summer

Summer vacations, seasonal demand, absences, and staffing shortages can leave some employees carrying more than their usual workload.

As schedules normalize, take a look at whether those temporary responsibilities actually went away.

Did one employee quietly absorb part of someone else's job? Is a department consistently relying on overtime? Is your most dependable employee becoming the person everyone turns to when something needs to get done?

Short periods of increased responsibility are sometimes unavoidable. When they become the norm, however, burnout can follow.

Heading into fall is a good opportunity to redistribute responsibilities, cross-train employees, address vacancies, and make sure workloads are sustainable.

3. Don't Let Good Work Go Unnoticed

Recognition doesn't have to mean an elaborate employee rewards program.

Sometimes it's simply a manager noticing that someone handled a difficult customer well, trained a new employee, solved a problem, stepped in when the team was short-handed, or consistently produced quality work.

Specific recognition tends to mean more than a generic "good job."

Tell employees what they did well and why it mattered.

As businesses begin pushing toward year-end goals, it's especially important that employees don't feel like their efforts are simply expected and unnoticed.

4. Make Sure Employees Can See What's Next

The final few months of the year naturally get people thinking about what's next—including their careers.

Not every employee is looking for a promotion, but most people want to know there is some opportunity to grow.

Growth might mean learning a new skill, cross-training in another department, earning a certification, taking on more responsibility, becoming a trainer or moving toward a leadership role.

If employees feel they've reached the end of the road with your organization, opportunities elsewhere can become much more attractive.

You don't need to promise promotions that don't exist. Instead, have honest conversations about what employees want to learn and where they would like to develop.

5. Communicate What's Coming This Fall

Employees can handle a lot of change when they understand what's happening.

Poor communication is often what turns manageable workplace changes into frustration.

If production is increasing, schedules will change, seasonal employees are coming in, overtime may increase, or the company is preparing for a busy fourth quarter, communicate early whenever possible.

Employees don't need to know every detail of every business decision, but they should understand changes that directly affect their jobs.

Clear expectations and consistent communication reduce uncertainty—and uncertainty is often where workplace rumors and frustration begin.

6. Watch for Signs of Disengagement

Employee turnover doesn't always come completely out of the blue.

Changes in attendance, engagement, communication, productivity, or attitude can sometimes signal that an employee is becoming disconnected from their work.

That doesn't automatically mean they're planning to leave. There may be many explanations.

But it can be an opportunity for a conversation.

A simple check-in—"How are things going?" or "Is there anything making your job harder right now?"—may uncover issues management didn't know existed.

The goal isn't to find out whether someone is job hunting. It's to create enough communication that employees feel comfortable raising concerns before resignation feels like their best option.

Use September as a Workforce Check-In

Before the fourth quarter gets underway, take a few minutes to look beyond your headcount.

Ask yourself:

• Who would be particularly difficult to replace tomorrow?

• Who has taken on more responsibility than they had six months ago?

• Who hasn't received meaningful recognition lately?

• Where are we consistently relying on overtime?

• Which employees have potential we're not developing?

• Which positions would be difficult to fill if someone left?

• What staffing needs can we anticipate between now and the end of the year?

You may identify retention issues that can be addressed now—as well as hiring needs that are better handled proactively rather than after they become urgent.

When You Do Need Additional Hiring Support

Even employers with strong retention practices will experience vacancies. Employees relocate, careers change, businesses grow, and workforce needs fluctuate.

When you need additional support, Human Resources Inc. works with employers throughout Mount Vernon, Skagit County, and surrounding communities to help find the right fit, from temporary and project staffing to contract-to-hire and professional recruiting.

Whether you're filling an unexpected vacancy or planning ahead for fall and year-end staffing needs, we're here when you need us.

Human Resources Inc.
Connecting local employers with local talent.