Gill South: Happy to be here, or just waiting for a better offer?

Have you checked your staff's happiness levels recently? How would you say your relationship was faring in these tough conditions?

Are they still happy to be with you - or just biding their time until things get better?

It might be time to do an internal survey and see how things truly stand.

Chances are they are giving points for the way you are handling this recession and dealing with them, according to an international survey. The research, carried out by the Centre for Creative Leadership (CCL), showed that staff were watching their companies and judging how well they were being treated.

The next six months will be a "critical" period, when talent will be won or lost on the decisions leaders are making now, says the centre.

"The research has shown us that top talent understands times are tough," says CCL's Roland Smith. "But they are tracking your past decisions and are watching carefully to see what happens next.

"Are you on a path to maintain or grow the talent you have, or will you end up with a workforce that is ready to leave you as soon as they can?"

Local recruitment consultants agree. "When we start to come out of the recession I think the market is going to be all over the show," says Megan Alexander, senior manager of Robert Half NZ.

"Candidates that are working very hard are going to be expecting a reward and recognition. I think that employers need to be very wary of that as soon as opportunities come up. If these people are not recognised, they will be very quick to start looking around," she says.

The market is already reasonable for good to excellent candidates, she says. In one case, an experienced accountant recently had three companies fighting to employ her, says Alexander.

"She stands out a mile, she's a qualified accountant at a senior level. She's in her 30s, with good life experience.

"So many people are too scared to move. They are putting up with long hours, a stressful situation, and feel that there is nothing else to look at - but there are other opportunities."

Robert Half has done a survey recently to gauge the morale of its own staff. "It's about involving the staff going forward," says Alexander. Communication is very important at times like this, she says, and this type of survey is something every company should be looking at doing.

The survey looked for feedback on a range of subjects, such as how staff feel about the hours they work, how they see the organisation and what they think the management team has done well, and also sought ideas for improvement.

The company followed this up by running workshops to flesh out some of the new ideas. Staff were encouraged to get involved in coming up with ideas. Getting them re-engaged in the business is important, says Alexander.

No matter what companies do to engage their staff, younger generations won't indefinitely put up with going unrewarded, says Andrew Brushfield, director of Robert Half Australia.

One company he advises recently told its staff there was going to be a wage and hiring freeze.

"All the Gen Y and Gen Xs said that's fine, we like the company for what it believes in, but what are you going to give me?" They were looking for concessions such as flexibility about hours and other softer benefits, he says.

"What companies need to realise is that they are operating in the 'new normal'," says Chris Johnson, partner with executive search company Kerridge & Partners.

The challenge is for New Zealand companies to think creatively - and if they don't, they will see a reversal of talent, warns Johnson.

Overseas job markets are reviving and they will be back competing for staff now living in New Zealand.

He is hearing that things are beginning to pick up in London and in New York. Australia, meanwhile, has never had it as bad as here, Johnson says. Local employers should take note.

"You have got to use that talent or lose it, therefore flexibility and creativity become important."

If you look at all the kind of changes which have been going on, organisations that manage those well will have a range of ways of engaging people. Flexible working will almost certainly emerge and become part of the "new normal" he says.

"What we do know is that leaders must be able to lead through continuous change, and they are going to need people at all levels who are comfortable with the grey [rather than black and white].

"In the mid-term, it's how do you attract talent, versus jobs."

Johnson is concerned that business owners and leaders have gone through a phase where, because nobody is going to leave, the attitude is that "I can squeeze a bit more".

"But the CCL research shows you can only exploit people so far," says Johnson.

"We know that the organisations who are really at the forefront think about the community, and their employees in the community."

In a recession, one of the things that drive employees to frustration is the routine: there are no exciting projects to work on because companies are concentrating on core business.

"We all need a certain amount of variety," says Johnson. Now is the time to invest in people, improve their skills and give them the variety they crave.

It may be that the reason your staff are unhappy is because they are not up to the job or were shoehorned into the wrong job when the required skills were hard to find.

Global Career Link chief executive Simon Swallow says companies are currently doing some hiring.

"It's a good opportunity to get the right people into the business," he says. It used to be a case of finding a "live body", but that attitude has changed.

"When things turned nasty, management realised that they did not have the right people in their businesses," says Swallow. "Larger companies have taken advantage of the more fluid job market and managed to pick up better people."

Holding on
Tips for keeping the talent you have, from the Centre for Creative Leadership:

* Be sure you know how your staff are feeling.

* Don't forget non-monetary ways of rewarding people, or showing appreciation.

* Use the crisis as a way of training people for bigger roles.

* Be visible and accessible to employees.

* Invest judiciously in training that will support your organisation's future direction.

* Have "stay" talks with key talent, to find out what is important to them.