How line manager investment can improve employee retention

Talent retention is one of the greatest challenges facing employers in 2023, with research showing that nearly a third of employees plan to leave their current role in the next 12 months. And according to Human Resources Directors, over three quarters of business leaders recognise this challenge too.

However, asking the same employees also shows the solution. When asked, employees are open to the prospect of exploring internal opportunities, reskilling and upskilling to help them achieve their career prospects. This aligns with 67% of firms are investing in line manager training to support employee development.  

But is there a disconnect? Are employers talking the talk rather than walking the walk, despite the evidence that talent retention could be a source of competitive advantage, or even survival, as the economic conditions worsen.    

Employers say they recognise retention is the challenge ahead

Human Resources Directors are aware that staff retention will be the greatest challenge for 2023, and our latest research shows 63% of them are worried about it. 

There’s evidence that organisations are acting on these concerns, as 62% of employers have implemented reskilling and redeployment programmes to retain redundant employees. And rather than recruit externally, 55% of these businesses have met the need for new skills through retraining new employees. 

The disconnect between what employers say and what they do

It seems these positive steps are not enough for employees, or perhaps retention strategies have not been adopted by enough employers.

After salary, the second most common reasons employees say are causing them to leave their current role is a lack of internal progression, re-skilling and upskilling. Of the roughly two thirds of employees who don’t want to leave their current employer, 45% want to progress and upskill for a new role. 

Our research also shows 79% of Human Resources Directors believe their organisational leadership value employee training and development, and 77% of business leaders say having workers with the right skills is important.

That all sounds great, all stakeholders want to take the right steps towards retention through reskilling and upskilled. Yet it is at the point of implementation that we see a disconnect between intent and action.

• 35% of employees are regularly asked what training they need 
• 34% have no personal development plan or work objectives
• 42% of Human Resources Directors have had employee complaints about requests for training and career development that were denied.     

Why line managers are the key to unlock internal mobility and retain talent 

It is not that Human Resources Directors and leadership are unaware of the talent retention problem, far from it. The disconnect is between intent with action. Here’s where line managers have a role to play and should be a focus for training and upskilling in 2023, especially as 40% of employees believe that line manager support is the most important contribution to developing their careers.    

Nearly half of employees agree that their line manager helped their career progression. This sounds great, except that three quarters of the same responders don’t believe their line manager is well enough trained to help with their career progression.

Imagine what line managers could achieve, and how employees would respond, if they had the right skills? This is starting to change with 66% of Human Resources Directors recognising the important role line managers play in retaining employees. Two thirds go on to say that their company is investing more in line manager training.