Since April 2021, more than 19 million US workers—and counting—have departed their employment, a record rate that has wreaked havoc on businesses across the country. Companies are battling the issue, and many will continue to do so for one simple reason: they don’t understand why their employees are leaving in the first place. Rather than taking the time to investigate the root causes of attrition, many businesses resort to well-intentioned quick fixes that fail: for example, increasing pay or financial perks, such as offering “thank you” bonuses, without making any effort to strengthen employees’ relationships with their co-workers and employers. What’s the end result? Employees detect a transaction rather than gratitude. This transactional relationship serves as a reminder that their true needs are unmet.
Despite the fact that COVID-19 caused early turnover as a result of the economic crisis, the current phenomenon known as “The Great Resignation” is attributable to many job searchers deliberately leaving their current jobs. Offices have reopened as a result of mass vaccinations and mask mandates, precisely as job seekers re-evaluate their work-life balance and take bold steps to take control of where they live and work.
Employees crave engagement in the human aspects of work if the preceding 2 years have taught us anything. Employees are exhausted, and many are depressed. They want their employees to have a fresh and improved feeling of purpose. They desire to form social and interpersonal bonds with their co-workers and bosses. They want to share a sense of belonging. They want income, benefits, and advantages, but they also want to feel appreciated by their employers and bosses. They don’t want transactions; they want meaningful—though not necessarily in-person—interactions.
Company leaders put their organisations at risk by not understanding what their people are fleeing and what they might gravitate to. Furthermore, because many businesses are treating the situation in the same way—failing to invest in a more meaningful employee experience and failing to meet new demands for autonomy and flexibility at work—some employees are deciding to leave traditional full-time employment entirely.
Check out these four ingredients for success if you have an infusion of new talent on your team:
Be willing to change the type of work you do.
Despite the rise in resignations, the majority of companies believe the labour shortfall is only temporary. However it might outlast the pandemic. As a result, if businesses want to flourish during the Great Resignation, they should think outside the box when it comes to recruiting and retaining talent. Because they do not seek regular employment, freelancers and contractors are frequently neglected. As a result, businesses are missing out on great talent that is there in front of their eyes.
Flexibility is the key to the future of work. Companies must implement more flexible working conditions in order to recruit and retain talent. Flexibility is only second to compensation in terms of importance. 93 percent of employees want a flexible schedule, and 56 percent are willing to consider new job prospects that offer it. After COVID, one of every two people will not return to employments that do not provide remote work. Working from home would make them happy, according to 19 and 77 percent of respondents. Companies may appeal to a wider talent pool while maintaining their present talent by offering employees the trust and freedom to finish their work outside of the 9-5 constraint.
Set up individuals for success from the start.
The number of job opportunities in the economy is at an all-time high. That means that each successful hire, whether internal or external, is crucial to the company’s long-term success. The way people are welcomed into a new team determines whether they will succeed or fail.
High-performing firms engage in new recruits through thorough onboarding programmes that include tests to verify fit, pre-hire through post-hire learning, networking, and coaching tailored to the role’s requirements. When new hires understand that their new boss and organisation are invested in their success, they are more willing to learn, adapt, and remain.
Connection
Employees who are passionate about the companies they work for are frequently inspired by the company’s vision, values, and services. They have a deep bond with their employer, especially if the company’s internal culture reflects the ideals that it promotes outside. Employees go to tremendous lengths to make a firm succeed when they feel valued, cared for, and motivated.
Employee excitement for a brand can give a company a competitive advantage in its industry. Even though the airlines have nearly comparable records for cancellations and missing bags, we’ve seen airlines with employees who feel linked to their brand receive a sixth as many consumer complaints as competitors with more adversarial labour relations.
These strong bonds can be formed not just by making a company’s vision apparent, but also by having everyone from the CEO on down exemplify it in order for employees to feel intimately connected to it. Employees should be empowered to make decisions in a variety of situations that a rule book can never anticipate, and management teams should back them up if the goal to align with the company’s identity is correct, even if the execution is incorrect.
Make policies that are more inclusive.
Companies should review and revise their working practices to be more inclusive. Employees, both prospective and current, want to feel that their employers care about them as a whole person, not just the work they create. Infertility, pregnancy loss, being a caretaker for a family member, battling mental health, and dealing with health concerns are just a few of the issues that employees encounter. When organisations fail to recognise an employee’s pressures outside of work, they jeopardise that employee’s loyalty and confidence. Take the time to update parental leave policy, strengthen mental health programmes, create flexible working arrangements, and get employee input to learn what matters to them.
Similarly, businesses should review their holiday calendars to ensure that they are more inclusive of persons with varied spiritual, cultural, or religious beliefs. Companies could explore introducing floating holidays or swappable holidays where employees can celebrate the holidays that best match with their religious, spiritual, or cultural values in order to create a more inclusive workplace that attracts and retains talent.
Inclusion creates a sense of belonging.
At some point in our lives, we’ve all felt the agony of being left out. We feel compelled to fit in by conforming to a pre-existing culture. Organizations, on the other hand, may find that flipping the script is significantly more beneficial. People will pay less attention to how they are viewed and more attention to value-driving work if they feel confident expressing their thoughts and demands without fear of being judged.
Organizations that are given the tools to cultivate a sense of inclusion will be able to establish an environment where everyone can bring their whole self to work. This will boost capacity, focus, and creativity, resulting in improved company results.
