If you haven’t listened to our latest podcast on The Great Resignation, we suggest you take approximately 8 minutes to do so before diving into this blog.
What the hell is The Great Resignation, besides everyone’s new catchphrase? We’ll make it simple; everyone is quitting their jobs. In fact, nearly two-thirds of U.S. workers are looking for a new gig. The U.S. Department of Labor reports that during the months of April, May, and June 2021, a total of 11.5 million workers quit their jobs.
This means companies are struggling to attract and retain talent.
Let’s dig into why this is happening, what the reasons are behind it and how you can prevent your company from being just another statistic.
- The Pandemic: In short, the pandemic has turned everything we know upside down. We spent the past 18 or so months adapting to working from home and balancing the demands of our lives while also feeling pulled to work 24/7.
- Company Culture (ours is great by the way): While your employees were working from home surrounded by laundry, dogs and a pile of dishes…your company culture completely changed. What was once important to employees before the pandemic is now completely different.
- Mental Health: We are all struggling with feelings of isolation, helplessness, sadness…you name it, we’re feeling it. Mental health has never been something companies have bothered addressing or even thinking about, and the fact that you’ve ignored it all those years is coming back to bite you in the ass.
- Empathy: This is a big one. Do you even know your employees? The names of their kids? Dogs? Significant others? I don’t care how big your company is, managers or directors need to take the time to connect with their team and yes, it is possible to connect with people via Zoom.
So how do you retain your employees? We find it interesting how much money and time is put into attracting talent while those that are currently working for you are overlooked. Why is that? Companies are offering signing bonuses to new employees but no bonus or reward to those who have stuck with you throughout the shitshow that was the last 18 months. You’re thinking about it all wrong.
- Give a shit: This really isn’t that hard. Listen to your employees, schedule regular check-ins so they can chat about life, what makes them tick and how work is going. Shut up and listen. You’ll learn so much by just keeping your mouth shut.
- Reward: Our employees never missed a beat during COVID and the level of grace they exhibited in dealing with change was unbelievable. We gave them bonuses and just recently shut down the office for two days to give them a much-needed mental health break. How did we know they needed it? We listened.
- Celebrate: Birthdays, anniversaries, new dogs, cats, it doesn’t matter. Celebrate as a team, lift each other up, be happy for those you work with or manage. It’s the little things that matter.
- Adapt: We don’t know when this damn pandemic will ever go away, or if it will and companies need to be quick on their feet, adapt and make the changes necessary to keep your company and employees moving forward.
This isn’t hard. People matter and they should matter to you.
