By Charlotte Huntsman, director for SHRM Pacific State Council

Now more than ever companies have to embrace the importance of their people. Since Mawar, Guam companies have seen a flux of individuals leave the island for better opportunities, leaving these companies in a bind to find the ever-elusive individuals to work for them. Now more than ever companies do need to find innovative ways to attract and retain individuals. It is not enough just to pay an individual for their work and give basic benefits, employers must provide a safe space to work, communicate, provide opportunities for career development, provide recognition for a job well done, show they value the employees, provide consistent feedback, show they are concerned about the employee’s work and their personal lives, to name just a few. As we see with the questions asked in the Guam Business Magazine’s Best Companies to Work For survey, these criteria form the basis for which employees want to work for the company and to stay with them.

As an employer and an HR professional, the categories GBM asked of the companies and their employees, are precisely how we view successful employee engagement. The formula needs to balance the company’s pay structure, benefits, its culture and values, communication and frequency, safe space, tools to work, visible and approachable leadership, qualified and credible management, recognition, upward mobility, and consistent feedback. Companies don’t always get this balance right and unfortunately, the end result is often lack of trust, disengagement, and worse yet, an employee who leaves. The old adage of “recruiting is more expensive than retaining” holds true in this scenario especially when there is a lack of individuals to recruit in Guam. Now more than ever, we need to make employee engagement a number one priority in a company’s strategic goal.

GBM’s survey showed how the smaller companies fared better in the categories asked. It makes sense because employees who work for smaller companies tend to have a better sense of family and community, offer more cross-training opportunities, are more flexible and adapt to changes, and often have easier access to leaders. While these could be true, large companies need to work a little harder to keep that employee engagement true and authentic. Companies of all sizes need to actively listen to what their employees want. They need to be sure to keep up with the generational differences and balancing the generations’ desires. Now more than ever, we do need to challenge ourselves on how to be better employers.