The job market has been in flux, with 44 million employees leaving their jobs in 2023 alone. In January 2024, another 3.4 million quit, and this trend shows no signs of slowing down. To put this in perspective, that’s more than the population of California and even the entire country of Canada. Even more striking, a survey by FlexJobs found that 68% of workers who recently quit did so without having another job lined up. Achiever’s 2023 Engagement and Retention report highlights that 81% of employees are finding new jobs independently.
The reasons behind this mass exodus are varied. According to Achiever’s report, compensation isn’t the top factor. After three years of a pandemic, employee needs have shifted dramatically. While compensation and work flexibility remain important, retaining top talent now requires a stronger focus on relational needs as well as transactional ones.
Rethinking employee and human need
Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs has long been a cornerstone for understanding human motivation. Traditionally depicted as a pyramid, it suggests that humans are driven by increasingly “higher” levels of need, culminating in self-actualization. However, this linear, step-by-step process is not how Maslow intended his theory to be understood.
In his book “Transcend,” Scott Barry Kaufman, a supporter and friend of Maslow, argues that Maslow never intended for human needs to be depicted as a pyramid. Instead, Kaufman proposes a sailboat as a more accurate metaphor for life. This metaphor emphasizes the integration and balance within oneself and how that influences one’s journey through the world.
You don’t climb a sailboat like you would a mountain or a pyramid. Instead, you open your sail, dropping your defenses once you feel secure enough.
How organizations can use the sailboat metaphor
The sailboat metaphor is an excellent framework for organizations, especially HR and communications, to better understand and address employee needs. Employees want to feel connected to each other, their leaders, and their organization. They want to thrive and work with an organization that supports their growth.
How HR aligns with different aspects of the sailboat.
- Safety — Ensuring job security and meeting physical, financial, and emotional needs.
- Connection — Fostering personal connections and relationships among colleagues, managers, and leaders.
- Self-Esteem — Promoting feelings of respect, worthiness, recognition, and value.
The sail represents growth, providing movement and direction. Growth is a journey, not a destination.
- Exploration — Encouraging curiosity that drives innovation and transformation, and providing opportunities for learning and career advancement.
- Love — Different from connection, this is about caring about people (even who you do not know), contributing to the common good, and serving customers and the community.
- Purpose — Achieving business outcomes and aligning with organizational values.
Additional sailboat elements:
- The Seabird (“Thriving”) — When employees feel personally and professionally fulfilled, they can look down on their achievements.
- Ocean— The currents of technology that influence the boat’s direction and sometimes threaten its stability.
Why does this matter?
HR programs and services form the foundation of the employee experience, while communications act as the connective tissue. Effective and meaningful communications help employees feel secure, enabling them to unfurl their sails and find fulfillment. Employee experience is not linear. As we rethink employee needs, we must also move away from linear communication.
Applying the sailboat metaphor helps us create an approach that focuses on context and experience, understanding employee needs at a deeper level, and aligning communications to meet those needs. Employees crave career advancement opportunities, which exist but need to be communicated more effectively. For example, career development is not just about moving up the corporate ladder; it can also involve horizontal and diagonal advancements.
A framework for people-focused communications
Now is the time for employers to rethink their approach to people-focused communications. Using Kaufman’s sailboat metaphor, we can create a message map to align and articulate HR programs and services that meet employees’ diverse needs.
While similar to employee value propositions (EVPs), this message map is more contextual and focuses on understanding employee needs deeply. It helps develop messages that drive awareness and understanding, ensuring that the sentiments of your message map are present in all employee and HR communications.
As leaders navigating a tight labor market, we must remind ourselves what employees value about their work, why they join organizations, and what drives them to stay or leave. This new approach shows employees that they have vast opportunities and the ability to go in many directions within your organization. More importantly, it helps them reach their potential in numerous ways and ultimately thrive.
This article is based on a workshop I presented at the Millennium Alliance’s CHRO Assembly: Transformation HR in March 2023.
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