Over a year since California’s initial COVID-19 lockdown order, restaurants have opened, families have reunited, and workers have been trickling back into the office. This way of normalcy may be short lived, and it’s difficult to say what the working landscape will look like in the upcoming months. Yet, there is one facet that businesses owners should expect and combat: a grand scale work ‘exodus.’
The labor market is emerging from the pandemic in remarkable manners, and the pressure is on for supervisors and business owners, as workers continue to ask themselves where, when, and how they want to pursue careers. Microsoft conducted a survey that found 41% of the global workforce is considering quitting their job. This shines a light on the legitimate concerns their employees are deliberating and what to do about it (cost effectively). Below are three ways that employers can instead actualize the ‘Great Retention’.
This first step starts with business owners, managers, and senior employees. It is important for them to understand that their business’s success is dependent on their own ability to restructure their workplace. Seeing senior leaders willing to make change and acknowledging that their company’s current structure isn’t working, creates value and respect within. Through transparent and considerate conversations with staff, senior employees must identify and evaluate the unique concerns of their team members.
- Redefining “Success”
There is no ‘one size fits all’ answer to what innovation a company requires to succeed, especially in such atypical circumstances. It takes time to identify the issues a business is facing, and senior leadership should ask meaningful questions to better understand their employee’s concerns. This demands ongoing collaboration and adjustments to create solutions unique to their business. An experimentation/implementation period will come about, and inevitably may have some hiccups. In this circumstance, success is tied to perseverance through change.
- Retaining Employees
One reason that employees may not want to go to work right now is realizing that other aspects in life bring more joy than a paycheck. To cultivate motivation and satisfaction in the workplace, it’s important to provide employees with a sense of purpose, mastery, and autonomy. Give them ample opportunities to be challenged and gain a sense of accomplishment and pride in the work they’ve completed.
We know as business owners and managers, maintaining a successful work environment is vital for your company. This informational piece is meant simply to relay a trend happening in today’s corporate landscape post-pandemic. For more information on this subject, check out the following links referred in this article:
“How Innovation Can Transform the Great Resignation into the Great Retention” – Robyn Bolton; Forbes
“Survey: 40% of employees are thinking of quitting their jobs” – Sean Fleming; World Economic Forum