Reynaldo Ramirez Jr Of Thrive HR Consulting On The Labor Shortage & The 5 Things We Must Do To Attract & Retain Great Talent

Develop your employees. Employees want to know that their managers care about their professional and career development. Development plans should focus on Education (training), Exposure and Experiences. Having your employees learn by leading a project or working with a different group or leader are great ways to develop their talents without going to a week-long training program. If you as a manager don’t provide this, your employees will find a new company that will.

The pandemic has allowed people to reevaluate what they want from work. This “Great Reevaluation” has led to the “Great Resignation” which has left the US with a great big labor shortage and a supply chain crisis. What can we do to reverse this trend? What can be done to attract great talent to companies looking to hire? What must companies do to retain their great talent? If not just a paycheck, what else are employees looking for? In this interview series called “The Labor Shortage & The 5 Things, We Must Do To Attract & Retain Great Talent” we are talking to successful business leaders who can share stories and ideas from their experiences that can address these questions.

As a part of this interview series, we had the pleasure to interview Reynaldo Ramirez Jr.

Reynaldo Ramirez Jr. is A senior manager with more than 20 years of experience in technology organizations and international companies. Rey is skilled in leading HR teams, project management, talent acquisition, executing strategies to drive business results, vendor management, facilities management, and functional HR. He specializes in change management and communications strategy/execution. He also has extensive experience in end-to-end Mergers, Acquisitions, Integration, Divestitures, and Carveout processes and has executed 45+ global transactions. Rey is the Co-founder of Thrive HR Consulting and is focusing on providing fractional HR services to organizations that need critical projects/processes completed. He has served as a Management Consultant for Deloitte and RGP. He has also been a Sr Director of HR for the Cognizant Technology Solutions operation and is based in Denver, CO since July of 2014. He has led project teams implementing Workday HCM and ERP systems, ADP, and Bamboo HR. He has also led Strategic Deal Teams that focus on global Carveouts and M & A transactions. Rey understands how to work closely with Corporate Development Teams and other Key Functions to ensure employees have a positive transaction experience. Rey has had previous roles as the HR Leader for Cable & Wireless Communications PLC’s corporate move to Miami, FL, and built the team to over 150+ employees in their new office. His career focus has been as an HR Business Partner, Talent Acquisition, Employee Experience, Payroll, Benefits, and Compliance. Rey has held several senior-level management positions at Verizon, BMC Software, Electronic Arts, and Cisco Systems.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Our readers would like to get an idea of who you are and where you came from. Can you tell us a bit about your background? Where do you come from? What are the life experiences that most shaped your current self?

I have been very blessed in my life and career. I am the son of Mexican immigrants that grew up in the barrios of San Antonio, Texas. After college, I spent 20+ years in High Tech working in HR roles. Two years ago, my partner Jason Walker and I started up our firm — Thrive HR Consulting. My background and upbringing have instilled in me a very strong work ethic that has helped me get things done and move projects forward quickly. I love what I do and enjoy solving client problems with solutions we create!

Let’s jump right in. Some experts have warned of the “Great Resignation” as early as the 1980s and yet so many companies seem to have been completely unprepared when it finally happened. What do you think caused this disconnect? Why do you think the business world was caught by surprise?

I think many employers missed the shift from an Employers market where they call the shots to an Employee driven market. This in combination with the Covid-19 pandemic and employees’ values changing due to being home for 24 months has driven the “great resignation.” Employees now have spent many months with their families, have bank account growth due to not spending money outside the home, and are feeling more in control of their careers. All these factors together have driven employees to decide to exit the workforce — many without a job to go to. They are taking time off and may not go back.

What do you think employers have to do to adapt to this new reality?

Understand what is happening in the market and operate differently. Answer the questions: Why join my company? What is my approach to remote or hybrid work? Am I paying competitive rates of pay for positions? What is the mission of my organization? When I join you, will you help develop me to advance my career? Organizations that think “we are great and employees should be happy to join us” — old school thinking, very prevalent, are going to have a tough time in the new reality.

Based on your opinion and experience, what do you think were the main pain points that caused the great resignation? Why is so much of the workforce unhappy?

1. The organization has a disrespectful culture towards its employees.
   
2. The organization appears to be non-inclusive toward employees.
   
3. The organization lacks ethics or is unethical.
   
4. The company is cutthroat, backstabbing, or overly political.
   
5. There is behavior occurring that is considered abusive to my employees.
   

As with the 5 examples above, organizations treated employees poorly and as replaceable assets. Employees were not happy and are enjoying having the balance of power shift in their favor

Many employers extoll the advantages of the entrepreneurial spirit and the possibilities of an expanded “gig economy”. But this does come with the cost of a lack of loyalty of gig workers. Is there a way to balance this? Can an employer look for single-use sources of services and expect long-term loyalty? Is there a way to hire a freelancer and expect dependability and loyalty? Can you please explain what you mean?

Organizations are going to need contractors, freelancers, and gig employees to move projects forward. The key is hiring them for projects that have a start, middle, and end. These projects can be tracked and should have clear deliverables. Leaders should engage with the gig workers and include them as part of the team while the project is in process. Many times these gig workers may end up being the best full-time hires when their role becomes needed long-term. Leaders should interact with the gig workers regularly and refrain from treating them as 2nd class citizens in the organization.

It has been said that “people don’t quit jobs, they quit bosses”. How do you think this has been true during the Great Resignation? Can you explain what you mean?

Managers that want to see eyeballs every day had a very tough time pivoting to a remote work environment. Those that became virtual micromanagers had employees leaving for new opportunities in droves. Managers that checked in on their employees, really wanted to know how they were doing, asking how they could help them, those are the managers and teams that thrived during the pandemic.

I am fond of saying, “If it’s fun they charge admission. But you get a paycheck for working here.” Obviously, I am being facetious, but not entirely. Every job has its frustrations and there will be times when every job will aggravate employees. How important is it that employees enjoy their jobs?

This is the biggest responsibility of managers! Managers need to ask their teams, what is frustrating them in their jobs? Can it be automated? Are there other ways for the team to get this done, share the pain or improve the process? The overall goal is to have your team doing value-added work and not handling the admin or repetitive processes that don’t add value. Improving processes is what managers should be focused on day to day!

How do you think an unhappy workforce will impact a) company productivity b) company profitability c) and employee health and wellbeing?

This is all about employee engagement, an unhappy workforce, and a not engaged workforce that will not be productive and will drive down profitability. Engaged employees treat customers better and that drives profits for the organization. Employee Health and Well-being have become critical during Covid and post Covid. A happily engaged workforce has been proven to be more productive and drives profitability for organizations.

What are a few things that employers, managers, and executives can do to ensure that workers enjoy their jobs?

Clear job requirements and objectives are a requirement. Employees that are not clear on this will have issues and will leave the organization. The development of your employees is also critical in today’s market. If you don’t invest in developing your team, they will go to a new company where they will be developed! Providing feedback on how an employee is performing regularly is also very important. Surprising employees with a bad performance review at the end of the review year is a great way to lose an employee quickly.

Can you share a few things that employers, managers, and executives should be doing to improve their company's work culture?

Communicating strategy, objectives, customer successes, and financials on a regular basis is critical to keeping everyone informed. If you have a company bonus plan, report quarterly how we are doing toward earning a bonus. We are hitting our numbers or we are below in this area and here is how you can help to improve our numbers.

Show your employees that you care about them and that you are happy they are part of the team. Companies with the highest engagement have leaders/managers that treat employees this way, daily!

Live the values that are written down. If you value transparency, don’t meet behind closed doors and not share information with employees. If you value top performers, don’t make an exception when a top salesperson misses their numbers. Employees will see this and quickly discount what is written down as the company values/mission.

Okay, wonderful. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 things employers should do to attract and retain top talent during the labor shortage?” (Please share a story or example for each.)

1. Clearly define your value proposition to potential new hires. Why should you work here? Opportunity, type of work, mission-driven organization, etc. We helped develop the value proposition for a recycling company “We are helping the environment by recycling 95% of batteries.”
   
2. Once you find a good candidate, we are finding that there is a 2–3 week window to put them through interviews and make them an offer. Any longer and they will have multiple offers to look at and they are off the market. If a candidate is good, get them an offer ASAP.
   
3. Make sure you are paying competitive salaries and that you have good market data. If your team is behind the market, make adjustments right away. New hires will be brought in at higher pay levels and you will not be able to keep that a secret. Once your current employees find out they are behind, they will not be happy and leave.
   
4. Develop your employees. Employees want to know that their managers care about their professional and career development. Development plans should focus on Education (training), Exposure and Experiences. Having your employees learn by leading a project or working with a different group or leader are great ways to develop their talents without going to a week-long training program. If you as a manager don’t provide this, your employees will find a new company that will.
   
5. Stay Interviews. Ask your employees questions about why they stay at your company, what they like about your company, what is the dumbest rule you have, and many other questions to employees. Then take action on recommendations. This is a great way to let your employees know you care and value their opinion.
   

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.

Ted Cruz — US Senator, to talk about the impact of policy positions to first-generation immigrants.

Our readers often like to follow our interview subjects’ careers. How can they further follow your work online?

Check out or website: www.thrivehrconsulting.com

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this. We wish you continued success and good health.

About The Interviewer:

Phil La Duke is a popular speaker & writer with more than 2,500 works in print. He has contributed to Authority, Buzzfeed, Entrepreneur, Monster, Thrive Global, and many more magazines and is published on all inhabited continents. He is the author of three books and a contributor to one more. His first book is a visceral, no-holds-barred look at worker safety, I Know My Shoes Are Untied! Mind Your Own Business. An Iconoclast’s View of Workers’ Safety. His second book Lone Gunman: Rewriting the Handbook On Workplace Violence Prevention which deals with workplace violence, particularly directed at women, is listed as #16 on Pretty Progressive magazine’s list of 49 books that powerful women study in detail. His third book, Blood In My Pockets Is Blood On Your Hands was recently released and will be followed by Work-Life Imbalance, The Location Has Changed But the Violence Remains due out in July, and Loving An Addict: Collateral Damage Of the Opioid Epidemic due to be released in December. La Duke also contributed a chapter to 1% Safer, a not-for-profit book, written by the “top game-changers and global thought leaders.”

Expertfile lists Phil La Duke as a top 25 thought leader in multiple areas. In addition to his writing, Phil sits on eight Biomedical Research Oversight Boards and is a highly sought-after speaker. La Duke is currently employed as a COVID Compliance and Production Safety Consultant for the film and television industry.

Follow Phil on Twitter @philladuke, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Phil-La-Duke-320996002174991/ or read his weekly blog www.philladuke.wordpress.com