Dive Brief:

• Recruiting, upskilling and DEI training are top of mind for talent professionals, and will be for the next three years, Willis Towers Watson reports. According to WTW data, employers have continued to name sourcing talent, reskilling and multiskilling as their priorities — with responses up 36%, 73% and 68% respectively.
• The survey of 1,650 worldwide employers, including 241 from North America, showed "growing pressure" in five key areas: changes in leadership and managerial competencies (45%), organizational agility (56%), tech strategy (66%), employee work models (74%) and emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion (78%). 
• "There's no greater challenge right now than hiring and retaining workers. Unfortunately, organizations do not expect the situation to improve this year, especially for critical-skill roles," Adrienne Altman, WTW North America's managing director of Talent and Rewards, said in a press release.

Dive Insight:

Catherine Hartmann, WTW's managing director of Work and Rewards, said in a press release, "Whether you view it as the Great Resignation, Reshuffle or Reprioritization, organizations can take tangible actions to win the talent race. These include identifying new sources of talent, optimizing job design, resetting their Total Rewards strategy and delivering a more robust career experience for employees." Talent teams can deliver that robust career experience by offering training and development for their existing employees.

HR professionals say upskilling and prioritizing internal talent are instrumental to surviving the Great Resignation. Employees, especially those in tech, are hungry for learning opportunities and a chance to revamp skill sets.

Another worthwhile investment for talent retention is diversity, equity and inclusion training. Much has been said about the "business case for diversity," but as DEI consultant Maria Morukian recently pointed out, the C-suite need to feel the emotional weight of difficult DEI-related conversations. In short, it's crucial that leaders see DEI as a dual imperative for their organization. And corporate educators — including the "accidental trainers" found on people teams and in HR departments — aren't always equipped to facilitate these heavy conversations about race, sexuality, ability, age and the like.

And if employers are interested in attracting Gen Zers, a strong culture of inclusion is non-negotiable. In a 2020 Monster survey, 83% of Gen Z respondents said a company's commitment to diversity and inclusion is important when selecting an employer. Likewise, in a 2021 Tallo survey, 99% of Gen Zers said workplace DEI is important to them. Still, 87% of respondents said that DEI is "very important" to them. Yet only 38% of Gen Zers surveyed by Tallo said they consider American workplaces to be diverse, equitable and inclusive.

When it comes to the future of work, corporate leaders and HR teams have their work cut out for them in 2022.