verywhere we look, we are talking about the great resignation. The question at hand is how do we get the right people for the right job, and how do we keep them?

With the rise of the digital age, remote working opportunities, and the mobile job market, the best talent are always job shopping, and if they aren’t shopping, they are being recruited right under your nose. This new digital job market demands employers meet the expectations employees set.

All stages of the employee lifecycle and talent management are critical, starting with proactive scouting and recruiting and extending to offboarding and succession planning, which leaves your employees and former employees feeling respected and paying dual respect back to your organization.

Employees’ expectations are high when looking for new employment. They are looking for opportunities to confirm their “gut” about the organization. They want to see their employer walk the walk. We have to remember that people are just that—they are people. They need trust, respect, and authentic connection in the workplace. Make sure you develop a recruitment and onboarding approach that includes what your organization believes. What you think and how you operate matters; it’s your culture that employees and customers remember.

So when you are onboarding and training your employees, partner them with a network of people. They can’t go straight to their training manager about everything. Think about how isolating it can be at a job to tell your new boss you just don’t get it, or you’re wondering about how to approach time off. Your employees should know who to go to for unspoken norms and management styles, who they go to as friends and peers, and who they go to for systems training and logins. By sharing the burden of training, you help make connections earlier and spare your superstars time and frustration.

Once you have them, you have to keep them. Research shows that development and growth opportunities are the number one reason individuals are leaving jobs. Illustrating to your team what their future will look like and how they will succeed is imperative. Train your managers to have the following conversations:

Short, informal interactions to show you care and that you are available

Review expectations, address obstacles, and identify where employees need support. Show them you see their workload, and provide them timely resources to address their needs.

Focus on immediate and relevant feedback and proactive coaching. Stay focused on what they do well and spot opportunities to get more out of them.

Plan formal conversations every six months to cover performance and development goals. Team Goals conversations should include metrics and documentation of achievements and areas for improvement.

If you advertise a quality work environment, make sure you provide it from the get-go, and then make sure you find ways to engage and develop your most valuable resource: your people.