The worker voice is becoming more and more dominate in the decision-making process for businesses. The rise of Covid created a shift in how workers view jobs and which aspects of those jobs they find important. This is especially true for workers at the entry-level or “front line.”

Ritse Erumi and Martin Whittaker, in their recent Fortune article Americans know what they want from companies. It’s time to listen, summarize this shift in saying that “what the pandemic catalyzed was a fundamental shift in expectations for workers. With wage hikes over the past year failing to keep pace with record-high inflation, many workers are also feeling more dissatisfied.”

It's for reasons such as these that EmployIndy is creating a Marion County Employer Resource Network (ERN), in partnership with ERN-USA. This national model was created first in Michigan and has been around for more than a decade, now spanning more than 10 states and with over 20 networks. It is a member-based program that serves the employees of the members who participate. Members are the companies themselves, and the cost of membership gives each employer access to a Success Coach. This Success Coach, which will be employed by EmployIndy’s ERN, is the designated “barrier navigator” helping individual employees navigate the external issues that impact their ability to come to work and/or do their work at their full potential.

In Indiana, Johnson County is the only other community that has an active program, and their employer members are seeing a lot of impact as the program moves into its second full year. Amanda Parkhurst with Endress+Hauser shared her motivations to join the program as a founding member: “As an HR professional, it’s difficult to be all things to all people, and we saw the ERN as an extension of our benefits offered to employees. The ERN allows for focused time to be spent on and with employees with an emphasis on finding resources for their specific needs.”

So, what happens after membership? And what is the real impact? Melissa Dewey from GMI, a local manufacturer, shared one such story. One employee at GMI had been struggling to get to work on time, to the point where it was affecting the person’s performance. Dewey knew the person was a good employee. The employee met with Johnson County’s ERN Success Coach, and the details of the tardiness came out. The staff member had a parent who did not have a drivers license. The parent needed to be taken to work regularly and this was causing the tardiness. The Success Coach was able to dig deeper and learn that the parent also didn’t speak English as a first language, which was contributing to the challenge of earning a driver’s license. But with some intervention and resource referring, the parent was able to pass a drivers test and was then able to drive to work every day. The GWI staff member was retained, and with the original need met, tardiness was no longer a problem.

This is just one example. When we factor in the cost of turnover, one employee saved is literally worth thousands of dollars for a business. ERN-USA puts the current return on investment of their services at more than 700% (from the organization’s latest annual report). And in addition to retention, ERNs can have positive impacts on employer recruitment, with many employers packaging the ERN membership as an addition to their employee benefits.

If you’re a Marion County business that’s struggling with worker retention, let’s talk about how to lighten your own load by investing in future satisfied employees. To learn more, reach out to EmployIndy’s business partnerships at businesspartnerships@nullemployindy.org and they can help get your organization on the right path to better employee retention.