Class in session: Employee Retention 201
What you'll get from this article
- Borrow a strategy from Corporate America to make your institution more appealing to current and prospective employees.
- Package other benefits and rewards as incentives to help stem the attrition tide. Money isn’t everything: Compensation isn’t always the reason for turnover.
- Create an employee value proposition that uses tangible and intangible benefits to answer the question, “Why would someone want to work here?”
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Pop quiz:
Which kind of career path would you prefer?
A. One where salaries are low, the opportunity for advancement is scarce, remote work is a fantasy and the balance between work and life is tipping more toward work.
B. One where employees love their jobs, feel their work has purpose, enjoy their retirement and tuition benefits and paid time off.
C. Is this a trick question?
If you answered C, you are correct. Answers A and B are actually two facets of the same industry: They reflect the Jekyll-and-Hyde scenario facing many who work in higher education.
New TIAA Institute research uncovers some significant contradictions that employers looking to recruit and retain workers need to address.1 The research presents a cohort of higher ed employees who value their retirement benefits (98%), health insurance (94%), amount of paid time off (92%) and tuition reimbursement (62%).
Yet more than one in three say they are likely to leave within the next two years for better pay (49%), work-life balance (35%) and advancement opportunities (34%).
Worried about attracting and retaining talent? What are your peers doing about it? Find out
Another revelation: The power of higher ed’s mission may be losing primacy among employees’ other priorities. While 45% of those who hire employees in colleges and universities said that mission was a top reason employees choose to work at their institution, only 32% of the employees said the institution’s mission was a key factor in their recruitment or retention.2
This is a big problem for employers in higher ed: More than half of colleges and universities saw an
Enter the “value prop”
Long embraced by Corporate America, employee value propositions (EVPs) highlight an organization’s comprehensive benefits to help hire and retain employees. Ideally, an employee value prop identifies the mix of tangible (compensation, medical, retirement plan, tuition reimbursement, etc.) and intangible rewards (culture, community, mission) that make working at an organization especially attractive.
Essentially, an EVP acts like a mission statement to answer the question: Why would someone want to work here?
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“Employees sometimes leave for bigger jobs outside and inside the University of Arkansas system,” notes Christopher Hickman, director of administrative services and chief human resources officer at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.
“We’ve used this process of creating an employee value proposition to understand and define UAPB as a place to join and grow professionally before moving on—and are beginning to market our proposition as a launch pad.”
It comes down to the basics of strategy: What do folks value above and beyond their pay? How are you uniquely qualified to offer that?
- Mark Barden
Lessons from Corporate America
While employee value propositions have been a fixture of Corporate America for decades, less than 40% of higher ed institutions use them—or use them effectively.
For it to do any good, you need to share it with your employees. Only 12% ofhigher ed employees said they wereaware of their institution having a value proposition,according to TIAA Institute research.4
“If Corporate America is good at anything it’s responding to market signals with new ideas,” says Mark Barden, an expert in brand transformation and author of “A Beautiful Constraint: How to Transform Your Limitations into Advantages and Why It’s Everyone’s Business.”
Barden continues: “You need to play your hand very well if you can’t win on salary alone. The same applies for hourly labor. When all employers are trying to hit the same salary or wage in a market, other things come into play, like workplace culture and benefits.
“It comes down to the basics of strategy: What do those folks value above and beyond their pay? How are you uniquely qualified to offer that?”
We’ve used this process of creating an employee value proposition to understand and define (our school) as a place to join and grow professionally.
- Christopher Hickman
Creating a value proposition for employees
The
- Where are you currently experiencing success with employee satisfaction?
- What’s working/not working around messaging?
- Which positions are the most critical? Do you communicate well with the employees in those roles?
- Would investing in areas such as culture, community and professional development improve hiring and retention?
- What is truly unique about your institution and how do you best communicate that to prospective and current employees?
The TIAA Institute analyzed our own data and worked with research from the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR) to define some compelling reasons to work in higher ed.5 See belowto learn the
Those who work in the higher education industry have never been there to collect Wall Street salaries, and many truly value the advantages of working at a college or university. Ironically, taking a page from Corporate America’s playbook could help higher ed polish its own value proposition and understand what’s most important to different groups of employees.
Five elements to an A+ employee value proposition
1. Total compensation
Salary is just one component of compensation, and it may not be the most compelling part. Higher education’s employee value proposition should call attention to their typically generous medical insurance and tuition benefits in the total compensation portfolio, perhaps even using a calculation showing the dollar value of these benefits.
2. Work-life balance
Remote work has proven challenging in most areas of higher ed, and that’s an issue for many employees. The opportunity to work remotely was the reason nearly a third of respondents said they would consider leaving for another job. Yet benefits such as generous vacation, flexible summer hours, many holiday breaks and child or elder care benefits not offered in other industries can mitigate limitations around remote work.
3. Professional development
According to the TIAA Institute, 34% of professional workers cite a lack of advancement opportunities as a reason for leaving higher education. Professional development sends a strong signal that employers are investing in their employees, and provides a sense of job security. Higher ed institutions can use their value propositions to create and highlight dynamic career paths and offer professional development opportunities that help employees feel more engaged.
4. Mission and purpose
A college’s mission and purpose are often cited as a comparative advantage to the corporate world, but that might not always be the case. While 45% of HR leaders surveyed said their institutional mission was a top-three factor for hiring and retention, only 32% of higher ed professional staff said the mission was a compelling factor for staying in their jobs.
5. Community and culture
The culture at colleges and universities is, no doubt, a workplace advantage. Events such as college symphonies, art installations, guest speakers, family recreational facilities, football games and Frisbee® on the quad can all be thrilling and create a community. Data backs this up: More than three quarters of employees surveyed (77%) cited work culture as a driver of professional satisfaction in higher ed. Campus culture may be one universal factor in what makes it an attractive place to work.
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1-4 TIAA Institute, Employee Value Proposition–Quantitative Research September 2023.
5 “Why would someone want to work for my college or university?” TIAA Institute, 2023.
This material is for informational or educational purposes only and is not fiduciary investment advice, or securities, investment strategy, or insurance product recommendation. This material does not consider an individual’s own objectives or circumstances which should be the basis of any investment decision.
TIAA Institute is a division of Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (TIAA), New York, NY.