In the ever-evolving landscape of global business, the phenomenon known as “The Great Attrition” has triggered a profound transformation in workforce dynamics, catapulting employee retention to the top of the corporate agenda. Millions of professionals, including a significant number in the United States and a record-breaking number in the United Kingdom, are voluntarily exiting their roles, underscoring a challenge that transcends national borders. The tech industry, in particular, is feeling the brunt of this trend, with a vast majority of its workforce open to new opportunities.
Chief human resources officers (CHROs) are deeply concerned about this retention crisis, a concern that has only intensified in recent times. While retention is a priority, CHROs admit that other critical issues, such as adapting to workforce changes, strategic planning, and upskilling, are not receiving the necessary attention, potentially compounding the talent retention challenge.
The bottom-line value of talent retention
The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) points to the steep financial impact of losing talent. Replacing an employee earning $60,000 could cost a staggering $180,000 to $210,000, considering both direct and indirect expenses. Edie Goldberg, SHRM Foundation chair-elect and co-author of “The Inside Gig,” breaks down these costs, claiming that roughly 40% of this a direct hard cost and the rest is indirect soft costs generated when department leaders and manager support HR processes when hiring a new employee.
Investing in retention is a strategic imperative, not just a reactive measure. It’s a cost-effective way to nurture and retain the talent that is the lifeblood of any successful international business. The key to retention is the overall experience an organization provides its workforce. MetLife’s annual reports have consistently highlighted the employee experience as the linchpin of an organization’s retention strategy, emphasizing the need for employers to understand what resonates with their employees.
The role of HR technology in creating a positive employee experience
The employee experience is a holistic journey that an individual undertakes within an organization, deeply influenced by the array of HR technology platforms at their disposal. It begins with the recruitment process and evolves through daily interactions with technology that facilitates work tasks, communication, and personal growth. A seamless integration of HR systems can significantly enhance this experience, offering intuitive interfaces, easy access to information, and streamlined processes that affirm an employee’s value to the company. Effective HR technology supports a culture of recognition and empowerment, providing tools for development and feedback that foster a sense of purpose and belonging.
A robust HR tech infrastructure is pivotal in the broader context of employee retention; it not only optimizes operational efficiency but also enriches the employee’s connection to the workplace, thereby influencing their engagement, satisfaction, and loyalty to the organization.
Advanced HR solutions are essential in the modern workplace. They enable a seamless hiring process, transparent onboarding, and daily interactions with an intuitive HR platform. These are not just perks; they are the differentiators that position a company as an employer of choice.
For organizations with a global workforce, the complexity of human resource management is magnified. A solution that integrates and consolidates various HR technology platforms into a single, unified system is essential. This ensures that employees, HR business partners, and managers can access and manage information effortlessly without the hassle of navigating multiple systems.
The setbacks of a nonintegrated HR tech stack
Consider the process of managing time-off requests in a multinational company. Without integrated HR technology, this can become a logistical nightmare. The goal is to make this process as simple and stress-free as possible, regardless of the employee’s location or the complexity of the underlying HR systems.
Inefficient time-off management can significantly undermine the employee experience within a company. When employees encounter delays in their time-off approvals, they may feel undervalued or overlooked, resulting in frustration and a sense that their personal time isn’t respected. This is exacerbated by a lack of transparency in the process, where employees are left in the dark about the status of their requests or their remaining days off, fostering anxiety and diminishing trust in the organization.
Moreover, inconsistencies in how time-off policies are applied can create perceptions of unfairness and favoritism, which can erode team morale. Administrative errors, such as lost requests or incorrect PTO tracking, can disrupt personal plans and decrease confidence in the company’s ability to manage essential HR functions effectively. Additionally, when time off isn’t managed well, it can result in unexpected staff shortages, unfairly increasing the workload on other team members and potentially leading to resentment and burnout.
The challenges of time-off management are magnified in companies with an internationally distributed workforce using multiple disconnected HR platforms. Time zone differences can cause even longer delays in processing requests, complicating employees’ ability to plan their personal time effectively. Cultural misunderstandings can arise when the nuances of different expectations around time off are not considered, leading to dissatisfaction among international employees.
Disconnected systems also pose a risk of noncompliance with local labor laws, which can have serious legal repercussions and damage the company’s reputation. Employees using different HR platforms may have inconsistent experiences when requesting time off, creating a sense of inequality and lack of support. Furthermore, the absence of integrated systems can result in communication breakdowns between HR, managers, and employees, leading to misunderstandings and a lack of accountability in the time-off approval process.
The seamless HR technology solution for global teams
To address these issues, companies should ensure full connectivity of multiple HR platforms that offer a consistent, transparent, and smooth employee-employer interaction, including time-off management for all employees, regardless of their location. Doing so not only enhances the employee experience but also fosters a culture of fairness and respect, which is essential for retaining a global workforce.
That’s why partnering with an employer of record (EOR) might be the right solution for providing a seamless and uncompromised level of connectivity, where employee experience is a critical component of the value chain. The Everest Group’s report on EOR services, which span the entire employee life cycle, underscores the importance of investing in the employee experience through EOR providers to support retention. The EOR model stands out as an ideal solution for companies navigating the complexities of international expansion while focusing on engaging and retaining global talent. In the current globalized environment, the concept of a borderless workforce is becoming increasingly common, presenting businesses with the challenge of managing diverse employment laws, cultural differences, and logistical hurdles.
With over 10 years of experience, Velocity Global fully understands the challenges of global expansion. That is why we developed integration solutions that bridge the gap between our Global Work Platform™ and multiple HRIS and ATS platforms, expanding the functionality of those systems. Velocity Global has just released single platform time-off management for our proprietary BambooHR and HiBob integrations to help our customers streamline their employee experience and drive talent retention.
Reach out today to learn more about our HR platform integrations and how they can help you create a positive employee experience for your global talent.
