Shop Talk Business tables in the break room. However, most employees really want the following: * Fair and competitive pay. You don't have to be the highest-paying employer, but you do need to pay a fair and competitive wage. " Don't assume that you know what current or prospective employees want. Instead, ask them. " * Effective training. Employees want the knowledge and skills needed to successfully complete their jobs. This is done through well-designed, well-planned training. Remember to refresh your training methodologies to appeal to younger employees and diverse learning styles. * Planned onboarding. The onboarding process is the foundation for employee success. Invest the necessary time to properly onboard and introduce your new employees to your organization. * Challenging assignments. Provide opportunities for employees to accept challenging assignments to further develop their experience and expertise. * Personalized mentoring/ coaching. Help employees assess and articulate their development needs and then provide them with access to a portfolio of skilled mentors and coaches. This means also providing training to employees who choose to be mentors and coaches. Simply delegating mentoring or coaching responsibilities without training and assigning mentees does not result in successful mentoring/ coaching relationships. * Ongoing appreciation. Most employees want to be appreciated more than recognized, and it's important to appreciate employees in the way they want to be appreciated. Ask employees how they want to be appreciated and find ways to provide ongoing appreciation. * Trusting relationships. Successful employees trust their leadership, and successful leadership trusts its employees. * Promotional/mobility opportunities. Provide opportunities for employees to move up and around the organization. Don't assume that all employees want to move or advance, but for the ones who do, provide and promote opportunities. * Inclusive and respectful environments. Recognizing diversity within an organization means providing inclusive and respectful work environments. FUTURE WORK Here is a snapshot of workforce trends according to Zippia.com: * 85% of jobs in 2030 will not have existed in 2017. * 65% of female employees report that the pandemic made them rethink the place work has in their life. * Automation has the potential to eliminate 47% of U.S. jobs by 2030, or 73 million jobs. * Up to 37% of Americans will be working from home by 2030. * Total U.S. employment is projected to grow by 8.3 million jobs between 2021-2031. 46 Marine Fabricator | Sept/Oct 2023http://www.Zippia.com