The labour market in Poland has developed the features of an employee’s market over the last few years. There is a shortage of workers in many areas the employers need them in. A similar situation emerged temporarily in 2006/2008 in the packaging and plastics industry, but only for the mid and high-skilled positions. Previously there was a constant supply of workers, especially at the low and medium level of competence. As the current trend can be assessed as sustainable and applying to line workers, it represents a major change in the employers' situation, and at the same time a significant challenge for them.Ensuring that their companies are appropriately staffed is a responsibility that employers must take seriously now. In this new situation, they reacted with an increase in the remuneration staff receive but it is limited by the profitability of production. This means the growing role of non-wage elements in maintaining and recruiting employees and effectively reducing turnover by building loyalty and emotional commitment of current employees, their job satisfaction, and effectively recruiting new employees. We can identify these activities in the following four areas. These assist employers in achieving the objectives set out below:
Professional development of the employee
- fair promotion system
- management of employee involvement depending on the stage of development and competence
- identify the sources of frustration experienced by professionals and act to decrease the level of frustration
- diagnostic and development talks with production workers to prevent them from leaving
- creative management of the development path of employees in the absence of a possibility of increase in wages or if the department has a flat structure (e.g. horizontal promotion)
- identifying current disabled workers to ensure they benefit from their statutory privileges (and fulfilling the legal obligations of employers)
- identifying the decision to leave the employer and take remedial action
- use exit interview information to retain existing company staff
Organisation of work
- appropriate communication to employees of negative information to avoid unnecessary chaos and negative reactions; such as the removal of bonuses, liquidation of branches and dismissal of employees
- defining the requirements and expectations of specialists because of their position and age
- building an effective program for implementing changes
- implementing changes in a manner that does not adversely affect the team, preventing the departure of specialists
Non-financial benefits
Important non-financial bonuses, especially in large cities and their surroundings, is private medical healthcare. An important role is also fulfilled by conducting integrational activities and building a good working atmosphere. Increasingly, alternative forms of incentives are emerging that respond to the needs of key employees and are of real value to them. Examples include, hobby support - gym memberships, access to swimming pools, fitness or language courses.On the other hand, the current employment of workers from Ukraine means that there is a need to organise their living conditions, but also integrational measures, including in their place of residence.
External image of the employer (employer branding)
A significant factor is the external image of the company, especially in the context of online recruitment and social media. Keep in mind that building an image for an attractive employer should be diversified - targeted at different groups, especially for large, growing organizations that need staff with diverse qualifications. At the same time, line workers, when considering work at a new company, look for insights into their prospective employers by seeking out information that can be primarily found on the Internet.For example, it may be necessary to take active, professional ((i.e. outsourced to a specialized branding employer) actions to neutralize negative feedback on recruiting portals that collect opinions about employers like gowork or goldenline and social networks like linkedin and facebook.
Summary
Implementing even a portion of the identified potential activities requires your own extensive HR department or outsourcing. In any case, this requires additional expenditure outside of current HR costs for; administration, payroll, or necessary training. It appears, however, that it is realistic to reach the target set, i.e. to cause potential candidates to choose an employer based on a broad range of benefits in lieu of a higher paid position.Adam J. Mielcarek, Executive Search Professional
