Turning the Great

Attrition Into the

Great Attraction
Driving talent transformation
with skills development

in partnership with
Contents

3 Introduction

4 Key findings

5 Respondent profile

6 Section 1: The current state of talent acquisition

11 Section 2: ‘Building’ talent from within

15 Section 3: Integrated talent management tactics

20 Section 4: Concrete career pathways

22 Conclusion

Turning the Great Attrition Into the Great Attraction 2

Introduction
From crisis comes opportunity
Covid-19 changed many things about the world of work. Amongst these was a
major shift towards remote or hybrid work – but this was only the foreword to a
wider workplace revolution.
As employees recognised the reality of how the
pandemic would affect their lives, they began to re-
evaluate their priorities when it came to their employer
and wider career paths.
Fast forward almost two years and the wants, needs, and
expectations of employees for their careers look almost
unrecognisable post-pandemic.
According to a paper1 published by the global management
consultancy McKinsey in September 2021, this professional
reflection, better known as the ‘Great Attrition’, prompted
numerous workers across the globe to resign from their
roles. In the US, 800,000 workers chose to voluntarily leave
their jobs by October 2021, according to the US Bureau of
Labour Statistics2.
In the UK, some 391,000 employees resigned from their
roles between July and September 2021, the highest figure
ever recorded in the UK Labour Force Survey3.
More than a third of employees (40%) in Australia, Canada,
and Singapore – in addition to the US and UK – were also
found4 to be at least somewhat likely to quit in the three
months ahead.
Furthermore, while some sectors were hit particularly
hard by the impact of the pandemic, such as leisure and
hospitality, high levels of disillusionment were also found
in white-collar workers. But perhaps most worryingly, more
than a third (36%) of those who chose to voluntarily depart
from their jobs, did so without having any other job lined up.
For most companies, this mass exodus of talent soon had
dire consequences. More than half of those surveyed (53%)
by McKinsey reported4 they had seen greater voluntary
turnover than in previous years, with almost two-thirds
(64%) reporting they expected it to worsen.
Initially, many companies responded to this with strategies
that had historically enabled them to hold onto employees
eyeing an exit. Pay increases and bonuses were offered, but
it became clear that these and other financial perks alone
simply would not cut it like before.
Links 1. mckinsey.com 2. bls.gov 3. cebr.com 4. mckinsey.com 5. gartner.com
Turning the Great Attrition Into the Great Attraction
A 2022 Gartner study5 found employees want to be
recognised for the value they bring at a more human level.
One way businesses could look to address this problem is
by integrating learning into the flow of work.
Change should come quickly. Research by Harvard
Business Review in 2016 already found that three-quarters
of managers were dissatisfied with the learning and
development (L&D) function within their organisation. A
further 7 out of 10 employees reported that they did not
have the skills to do their job.
Success will hinge on businesses providing a working
environment that ensures the pathways for career
development are there and achievable - even more crucial
given the impending economic recession.
To understand how businesses are looking to empower
employees through an ingrained culture of learning, and
how important this is for talent retention and overall
business impact, HRD Connect teamed up with online
learning provider Coursera to undertake some research
involving over 140 human resources (HR) leaders
worldwide. The data gathered provides a snapshot into
how evolving learning and development frameworks are
integrating into business strategies, and broader talent
acquisition plans.
This research shines a light on how challenging the
current talent market is, and what internal changes have
compounded these issues. It also suggests businesses
are aware that getting the right talent installed in their
business is imperative for growth.
That being said, the research offers insight on what
learning and development initiatives are underway to
improve employee skills, and what impact reskilling/
upskilling opportunities have on broader company culture.
3
Key findings

Talent acquisition is Securing the right talent:

critical for growth:
Attracting the greatest talent and
the right mix of skills remains vital to
business growth strategies, with 80%
of respondents identifying it as a ‘very
significant’ factor, and a further 16%
seeing it as ‘somewhat significant’.
Despite the critical importance of securing
the right talent, the research suggests many
businesses continue struggling to attract
the talent they need into their business,
with 93% of respondents either ‘struggling’
or ‘somewhat struggling’ to secure the
right people.

Factors to attract talent: Training at the heart:

Businesses appear to be taking a more
rounded approach to talent acquisition
programmes by focusing on factors such
as company culture (72%), learning and
development opportunities (63%), and
offering a competitive salary (62%).
Businesses that enable their employees
to flourish within the organisation will
succeed in both embedding training
opportunities in their company culture
(57%) and providing easy access to training
courses (44%).

Turning the Great Attrition Into the Great Attraction 4

Respondent profile
148 senior human resources leaders from

Seniority Sector
2%

15% 19%
24%

41%
28%

16% 55%

HR Directors Primary Sector

C-Suite Secondary Sector

HR Managers Tertiary Sector

Other Quaternary Sector

A total of 148 senior human resources leaders participated in the Turning the Great Attrition Into the
Great Attraction research.

HR directors constituted the largest share of respondents, making up 41% of the pool, with a further
16% of responses given by those in the C-Suite. HR managers made up just over a quarter (28%) of the
research profile.

More than half of research responses (55%) were drawn from HR leaders working within the tertiary
sector, with those in the secondary sector occupying the second largest share (24%). Under 1 in 5
(19%) worked in the quaternary sector, while just 2% came from the primary sector.

HR leaders from UK supermarket chain Tesco, Danish toy manufacturer LEGO, and professional
services firm PA Consulting, contributed to the analysis portion of this report alongside Coursera.

Turning the Great Attrition Into the Great Attraction 5

Section 1:

The current state of

talent acquisition
Section 1:
The current state of
talent acquisition
For most senior executives the biggest enabler or barrier
to overall business success is talent. While the majority
of conversations around future business growth focus on
‘digitalisation’, the success of most growth strategies come
from employees - the backbone of most businesses.
This was borne out of the research, which found eight in
ten senior HR leaders believe the acquisition of talent to be
‘very significant’ to the future growth plan of their business.
Furthermore, the bulk of the remaining respondents saw it
as ‘somewhat significant’ (16.2%).

Figure 1: How significant is talent acquisition to your business’s

future growth prospects?

3.4% 0.7%

16.2%
Very significant
Somewhat significant
Not significant
Unsure

79.7%

While this offers clear evidence that businesses realise how critical
the skills of their wider workforce are to achieve overall success,
attracting the right talent remains a challenge for a large share.

Turning the Great Attrition Into the Great Attraction 7

Section 1: The current state of talent acquisition

Turning to the effectiveness of their strategies, just 7% of
respondents reported they had no struggle in securing the
talent they required. By contrast, just over two-fifths (43%)
reported they were struggling, and more than half (51%)
were ‘somewhat’ struggling.
While securing talent is not a new issue, the pandemic has
certainly compounded the problem. Nearly two-thirds of
HR leaders (64%) believe the challenge of attracting talent
has increased over the past two years.

Figure 2: Does your organisation Figure 3: Has this changed in the

struggle to attract talent? last 2 years? (63 responses total)

6.8% 3.4%

28.6%

42.6%

50.7%
63.5%

Yes No, we have always struggled

to attract talent
Somewhat
Yes, we only somewhat
No
struggled to attract talent
Yes, we never struggled to
attract talent

Invited to identify the factors that have contributed most heavily to

this talent attraction challenge, respondents pointed strongly to an
increased competition for candidates – with 82% identifying it as a
key hindrance – whilst the supply of available candidates with the
right skills had in fact reduced (63%).

Turning the Great Attrition Into the Great Attraction 8

Section 1: The current state of talent acquisition

Figure 4: What factors most hinder your organisation’s ability to hire

the best talent?
Market competition Labour shortage Recruitment policy

11.5%
81.8% 62.8%

Internal budgets Cost of recruitment Company culture

11.5%
22.3%
41.9%

Shift to hybrid Employee value

Growth rate
working models proposition
2.3%
15.5% 16.2%

Other*

11.5%

*Other included: Brain drain, compensation, validation of skills, and the economic environment

Turning the Great Attrition Into the Great Attraction 9

Section 1: The current state of talent acquisition

The reality of this appears to have been further

compounded by the fact that more than a third of
respondents (42%) had seen their capability further Figure 5: What is your company’s
hindered by their internal budgets, with only one in five
respondents seeing their resources increased significantly. annual recruitment budget as
This is a reality Liz Tolcher, people and change expert a percentage in terms of total
at PA Consulting, has noticed in recent years, as the
recruitment and skills market became weighted in favour company spending for 2022?
of candidates rather than companies.

0-4% 41.9%

We are seeing far more 5-9% 18.2%

competition, and it has become
a candidate-driven market like 10-14% 20.3%
never before,”
15-19% 8.8%
she says.

20-24% 4.1%
While this has led to a more challenging environment,
there are ways for companies to overcome it and
still prosper. 25%+ 6.8%

Organisations need to think

cleverly about how they manage Figure 6: Has your organisation’s
their brand and think more recruitment budget changed in
holistically about how they the last 12 months?
are going to overcome the
competition for the smaller
12.8%
labour pool that is available,” 20.3%
Tolcher says.

One way in which this more holistic approach could 31.1%

materialise is for companies to not only look externally for
the skills they require, but to develop a more intelligent 35.8%
and comprehensive approach to building those skills
already in the business.

The budget has increased significantly

The budget has increased somewhat
The budget has stayed the same
The budget has decreased

Turning the Great Attrition Into the Great Attraction 10

Section 2:

‘Building’ talent
from within
Section 2:
‘Building’ talent
from within
While companies have typically gone down the route
of external recruitment to address shortfalls within the
workforce, this approach is often a short-term solution and
leaves more structural, longer-term challenges unaddressed.
Furthermore, the additional costs that come with
advertising, recruiting, and salary negotiations, are only
exacerbated in an environment of fierce competition.
Businesses tend to focus on external recruitment to bolster their
competitiveness and narrow the talent gap,”
explains Leah Belsky, chief enterprise officer at Coursera.
But in doing so, they are missing out on the opportunity of focusing
on their own employees, leveraging learning for internal mobility
and reskilling, which is a time-effective and cost-efficient way to
gain talent.”
However, for this approach to succeed, companies cannot
simply pay lip service to the prospect of upward mobility;
instead, they must put in place a strong structure that has
learning and development at the heart, and clearly align
employees to career development plans.
Fortunately, HRD Connect and Coursera’s research
findings appear to suggest a shift in business mindset in
favour of this. This is evidenced most strongly by the fact
that building a vigorous company culture emerged as the
most important factor for talent acquisition. It was seen
as very important by 72% of research participants.
Links 1. news.cornell.edu
Turning the Great Attrition Into the Great Attraction
By adopting an approach that focuses more heavily on
enabling internal hires to progress upwards within the
organisation, through reskilling and upskilling, these
costs can not only be reduced, but the effectiveness of the
employees can also be increased.
Research1 from Cornell University shows that internal
hires are not only more likely to be high performers, but
also more likely to stay within the organisation versus a
successful external hire.
Building a culture that embeds learning and development
within its core is crucial to retaining talent. And it starts
with senior leaders. Companies need to ensure their
senior leadership team communicates clearly and directly
on the importance of career and skills development.
In addition, senior leaders must create an internal talent
mobility mechanism which allows people to come
forward and seek new opportunities, engaging in training
which will equip them for these new roles. Otherwise,
employees may avoid coming forward due to a lack of
awareness around internal mobility.
12
Section 2: ‘Building’ talent from within

Figure 7: How important will the following factors be for your

organisation’s talent acquisition plan in 2022?

Very important Somewhat important Not important

Job advancement Learning and development Company culture

opportunities
6.8% 0.9% 4.3%

23.9%
35.9%
52.1%
41%
63.2% 71.8%

Salary offerings Additional benefits

(bonuses & stocks)
2.6%

19.6%
34.2%
35%

62.4%
46.2%

The research showed learning and development opportunities

(63%), and job advancement (52%), were ‘very important’ to
talent development strategies.

Taken together, the findings indicate a willingness among However, to succeed in such an approach, it will be critical
HR leaders to try and offer both the means and the that skills development strategies are tailored to meet the
incentives for internal candidates to develop their skills specific learning needs of those across the organisation.
and move into new roles.

Turning the Great Attrition Into the Great Attraction 13

Section 2: ‘Building’ talent from within

Central to this proposition is an open mindset, which
capitalises on today’s wide and growing range of training
methods available for learning and development. From
open learning—where learning is provided as a general
benefit—to more specific content geared towards a role
or department, to courses exclusively geared towards a
specific skill.
Highlighting the importance of such an approach, Louise
Cavanagh, head of capability at UK supermarket chain
Tesco, explains the company has worked hard to ensure
there is close alignment between both its employees’
goals and those of the company.

In terms of specific learning and development steps, we focus on

connecting learning to our purpose and values, showing colleagues
clear links between what they do, how they do it, and more
importantly why, which helps them feel more engaged and connected
to Tesco and our priorities,” she says.

Mapping training resources to the learning outcomes that need to be

achieved at each step is also important, enabling colleagues to track
their progress to achieve their learning and career goals.”

Turning the Great Attrition Into the Great Attraction 14

Section 3:

Integrated talent
management tactics
Section 3:
Integrated talent
management tactics
As organisations begin to rebalance their efforts more
heavily in favour of internal skills development, what will
separate those who succeed from those who fall behind?
In the eyes of those who participated in the research,
the factor that will prove most important to build a
conducive environment to learn and develop is ensuring
training is ingrained within company culture. This was
chosen by 56.5% of respondents as one of the three most
important factors.
This suggests training cannot simply be treated as a box-
ticking exercise. Instead it should be a proactive and
continuous process, which ensures wherever an employee
is based, a path of progression is open to them.
The importance of this was highlighted once again by
the fact that easy access to training resources, and the
existence of clear learning pathways for career goals, were
identified as the next most important factors, by 43.5%
and 36.5% of respondents, respectively.

Figure 8: What factors does your organisation see as the most

important in building a conducive environment for employees to
learn and develop?

1 Training is ingrained in the company culture

56.5%
2 Easy access to training resources
43.5%
3 Clear learning pathways for career goals
36.5%
4 Dedicated time to learn
35.7%
5 Senior management buy-in
30.4%
6 Growth-mindset within the organisation
27.8%
7 Employee recognition
17.4%
8 Engaging training programs
16.5%
9 Measurable insights on skills development progress
9.6%
10 Employees can explore the right long-term career path whilst working
7.8%
11 Opportunities to learn from short-form content
7%
12 Access to high-quality content
6.1%
13 Other* *Other included: budget, skills sharing, and accountability for executing L&D plans.
3.5%

Turning the Great Attrition Into the Great Attraction 16

Section 3: Integrated talent management tactics

Taken together, these findings suggest a holistic approach
to employee development is needed; an approach which
combines the incentive of a clear pathway to progress,
with the ability to learn the skills required to get there.
This can act as a powerful motivator to get those already in
the workforce to embrace development opportunities.
Explaining the importance of embedding a culture for
learning and development throughout every level of an
organisation, Coursera’s Belsky says:

Building a strong culture of learning and development starts right at

the top, with those in senior roles leading by example and highlighting
the value of continual career development.”

 his must then run right through the organisation, from leadership to
T
frontline workers. Coupled with clear, role-based learning pathways,
this will empower employees looking to progress in their careers to
know exactly what they need to learn and how to gain those skills,”
she says.

When implementing such a strategy successfully,
companies will likely be able to reduce the skills gaps
that have grown within their business by developing their
internal capabilities. But these are by no means the only
advantages gained by this approach.
Perhaps one of the most significant learnings from HRD
Connect and Coursera’s joint research is that, in addition
to increasing the competency of the workforce, a strong
learning and development strategy appears to lead to a
happier and more productive workforce.

Turning the Great Attrition Into the Great Attraction 17

Section 3: Integrated talent management tactics

Figure 9: Why is professional development important for your

organisation?

Rank Item Rank Distribution Score No. of Rankings

1 Increases employee
satisfaction
592 116

2 Boost engagement and

productivity
577 115

3 Gives employees a sense

or purpose
547 115

Creates new
4 opportunities to
optimise yout talent
541 116

5 Improves company
culture
414 115

6 Boost talent acquisition

rates
328 115

7 Decreases stress 236 114

Lowest Rank Highest Rank

Turning the Great Attrition Into the Great Attraction 18

Section 3: Integrated talent management tactics

When asked to identify the factors that made professional
development important to their organisation, the
three highest ranking factors all pointed to significant
improvements in the connection between the workforce
and the company itself.
Increased employee satisfaction was ranked first,
closely followed by a boost in worker engagement and
productivity, and an increased employee sense of purpose.
To try and bring about this positive change,
Kamathia believes one of the key components will be
communicating more widely across the organisation about
the potential opportunities already available.Being open
to people moving to different functions where the required
skills can be developed will also be important.

According to Zahed Kamathia, vice president and global

head of talent at the LEGO Group, this is something the
 e want to be able to explain
W
world’s largest toy manufacturer is currently looking to quite clearly what skills and pre-
capitalise on by empowering its staff to chart their own
career development paths. requisites you will need to be able
to do this job or be successful in
getting it,” she says.
One of the things we recognise
we have to do better, and we are Considering the high levels of disillusionment and
detachment seen during the wave of resignations that
working on it at the moment, occurred at the peak of the great attrition, the value of
such benefits for businesses cannot be overstated.
is to make learning and
development opportunities
connect more closely to future
development opportunities and
future career opportunities,”
she explains.

Turning the Great Attrition Into the Great Attraction 19

Section 4:

Concrete career
pathways
Section 4:
Concrete career
pathways
While much of the current momentum to increase With more than half of respondents to the research
both the availability and attractiveness of skills
development programmes is driven by the current
environment of intense competition for talent, the
potential of internal recruitment has also been
undervalued by some businesses.
One area where this has proven most significant is in the
availability of clear and concrete career paths for those
working on the frontline of a business.
reporting they employed at least 100 staff as frontline
workers, and more than a quarter employing between
1,000 and 10,000 plus, it is clear the potential to tap into
these individuals holds significant value.
For those companies that can ensure their culture and
training are accessible to frontline workers, the potential
to unlock previously hidden talent could prove vital to
filling vacancies in the years to come.

However, the ability for companies to offer flexible career

routes to people at the lowest levels has never been
greater thanks to technology. Training resources can now
be deployed in a manner that fits with either remote or
hybrid working, or as a form of on-the-job training.

As businesses and organisations continue to embrace new ways of

working, providing online, world-class learning opportunities that can
be conducted both in person and remotely is key to this evolution,”
explains Coursera’s Belsky.

As is ensuring we’re accommodating for different types of learning

such as self-paced learning, cohort-based learning, and more.”

Turning the Great Attrition Into the Great Attraction 21

Conclusion
47%
of respondents to the research reported
they now value professional development
either ‘a lot more’ or ‘somewhat more’ than
before the pandemic.
There is no doubt today’s workers control a highly
valuable resource—their own labour—which employers
are dependent upon for their businesses to operate.
With the highest number of job openings since the the avoidance of additional recruitment costs.
turn of the millennium, and businesses struggling to
attract employees1, today’s labour shortage gives those
who are looking for employment more choice and
bargaining power.
The impending recession is likely to compound this
issue. HR leaders will likely slow hiring ahead of demand
and focus on critical skills. Businesses most negatively
impacted, will also likely hold back on salary increases
and refine their approach to salary negotiations.
As a result, HR strategies which would have previously
worked to overcome a skills gap or shortfall in talent, are
unlikely to work.
From embracing, at least to some extent, the greater
agency and flexibility of remote or hybrid working,
companies must also ensure this is reflected in their
learning and development programmes.
This means they must take advantage of the opportunity
to tailor training to the unique needs of those across the
business, irrespective of seniority or which side of the
business they may be located in.
Links 1. edition.cnn.com
Turning the Great Attrition Into the Great Attraction
47%
of respondents believe they value it just as
much as they did before.
For those who embrace this opportunity by offering a
wide range of training resources—clearly linked to areas
where skills are most needed—there stands the potential
to upskill and reskill from within, while benefiting from
For those who don’t act on the lessons learned
throughout the pandemic, the chances of seeing the skills
gap widen even further remain high.
On this topic, it is interesting to note that 47% of
respondents to the research reported they now value
professional development either ‘a lot more’ or
‘somewhat more’ than before the pandemic.
Even more interestingly, the same proportion of
respondents (47%) believe they value it just as much as
they did a few years ago.
But with all signs pointing to employees looking at things
differently than they did before, it would appear at least
some change in approach and perception to the culture of
skills development and career progression is required.
22
Conclusion

Figure 10: Has your organisation’s perspective on professional

development and its importance changed throughout the pandemic

12.2%
47%

47%

34.8%

1.7% 4.3%

No, we valued it just as much prior to the pandemic as we do today

No, we did not, and still do not value professional development enough
No, we valued it more before the pandemic than we do today
Yes, we value it somewhat more since the start of the pandemic
Yes, we value it a lot more since the start of the pandemic

Turning the Great Attrition Into the Great Attraction 23