What We Have Covered in This Article
Last Updated on May 16, 2022 by Editor Futurescope
The Great Resignation has been a rude and remarkable wake-up call to American employers. Gone are the days when organizations could offer the bare minimum in terms of pay and perks and still expect the best job candidates to line up at the door. These days, as workers continue to quit in droves, employers must bend over backwards to convince existing employees to stay, let alone to bring on new talent.
Many business leaders fret: Will it be this way from now on? The answer, of course, is that it depends, but probably yes.
Fortunately, it does not have to be a serious struggle to build and maintain a workforce. By understanding why workers are leaving their current employment, business leaders can develop a strong recruitment strategy for the future. So, what do workers want to see in their employers?
Flexible Options
The pandemic showed workers not only that they can work from home but that working remotely offers some noteworthy benefits. Now, as workplaces return to pre-pandemic expectations of in-office attendance, employees are looking for positions that offer complete flexibility — in terms of location as well as schedule. Flex work gives employees more opportunity to balance work and life, providing greater emotional and mental stability. Plus, remote work options allow workers to relocate to more affordable and enjoyable locales, improving the livability of their wage.
Measured Outcomes
Traditionally, employee productivity has been measured by how much a worker can accomplish during their hours in the office. That has led to overwork and burnout — not to mention a lack of recognition of other types of effort, like morale. These days, workers want more qualitative measurement of their contributions to a company. Business leaders need to find ways to measure the value an employee adds to an organization. Many leaders might find employee recognition programs helpful, to track who receives praise when and why as a means of identifying the most valuable members of a team.
Diversity
Employees are tired of seeing the same faces in their coworkers and leadership. A lack of diversity is bad for business in so many ways: It reduces innovation, it stifles business growth, and it is disconcerting to consumers — and now, it is scaring away the existing workforce. Rather than merely paying lip service to efforts to have a diverse and inclusive workplace, leaders need to develop policies and plans to integrate employees of diverse backgrounds, to include race, age, gender, disability, at every level of business.
Career Development Opportunities
Finally, workers desperately want help pursuing their career dreams. No employee hopes to remain in entry-level positions for the rest of their life; they want to gain knowledge and skill, and more importantly, they want to climb their career ladder to reach roles that are mentally and financially fulfilling. Unfortunately, a pattern of external hiring has created an employment culture that requires workers to look outside their current company for higher-level positions. Employers that support workers in career development by offering resources like mentorship programs, tuition assistance and internal recruitment policies are likely to maintain enviably low turnover rates
Conclusion
Far from altering the course of history, the pandemic primarily accelerated trends that were already in place. Remote work, telehealth, online education — all of these well-established tech solutions were already growing in popularity before COVID-19 struck. Even the Great Resignation could have been predicted based on steadily increasing rates of employee dissatisfaction and disengagement before 2020.
It is incredibly unlikely that the issues precipitating the Great Resignation will just go away because employers want them to. Organizations of all sizes need to make concerted efforts to alter their employment strategies to keep workers actively and excitedly participating in their daily duties.
Perhaps the best way for business leaders to stem the tide of resignations is to talk to their workforce about their values and about issues that negatively impact them in their current role. Then, business leaders can work with their employees to develop policies and perks like those listed above, which will keep employees happy and motivated to stick around.
