The “Great Resignation” is currently at the top of the hot topics 2021 enumerated – but not in a good way. Who thought that the term coined by Anthony Klotz would become a bitter truth and bring companies straight up in the front to bear the brunt of the reality.
One can name ‘post pandemic’ as the facilitator for this entire resignation “phenomenon.” When Covid hit us hard, companies fired their workforce to slash the extra costs. A year after, when everything started falling in line due to the recovery rate in Covid, firms opened their arms again to welcome their employees. Unfortunately, this good hiring move by the firms is going in vain because the employee turnover is not in line with what the companies expected.
When the nation is recouping from Covid, many organizations are witnessing mass resignation. According to the We Forum, the resignation rates are highest in the healthcare and IT sectors. Moreover, numerous employees who do not rely on their paychecks are moving ahead and resigning. Possibly, it could also be one of the reasons for quitting, but wait until I narrate the entire chronicle.
In this entire swaying of employees from one job to another, organizations suffer a great deal. My recent experience of meeting CEOs and HRs paints a clear picture of the current scenario. They describe the “Great Resignation” as a kill of time, productivity, effort, and a loss of dollars. Companies spend a lot of energy training their employees without knowing the majority are likely to leave right after induction.
One point to keep in mind: A stable workforce is an asset to the organization, and with a moving workforce, the firm’s bottom line is often crushed. In the midst of this entire phenomenon, each company gains one thing: “precariousness” in work, profits, diversity, and culture.
What All Lead to the Great Resignation
Could it be the fact that the company’s efficiency in retaining employees is fading? Seeing the current scenario, I believe that this is the case. Employees leave firms for a variety of reasons, and companies don’t put as much effort into retaining them. Often, it seems like the decision of employees to quit their job is concrete. But the real question remains “What if the pandemic reappears and the job market turns unreliable again, what would keep the Great Resignation going?”
Businesses with a high level of profitability are more likely to survive deadly blows of nature, including pandemics. Neither do they terminate their employees, nor do they slash their pay to save some bucks. Such highly profitable firms or MNCs are very few in numbers as compared to all the firms together. Under this criteria, employees resign for two reasons. One, when they find a firm offering them greater benefits. Second, when they sense insecurity in the firm.
Contrary to this, firms with low revenue usually are not able to handle all aspects of operations and human resources. When they rehire, employees’ perspectives change. While they might work for the firm, the employees couldn’t escape thinking about the unstable situation. The result: employees leave!
Burnouts also happen to be one of the prime reasons for an employee to leave a firm. The hectic schedule of employees exhausts the emotional and physical limits of individuals. The effects of pandemic added on to the rigor, and left the employees feeling detached and overwhelmed. When the harshness of the burnout-pandemic combo went north beyond the level one could endure, the long-term job stress started to affect them.
Burnouts have a negative effect on the productivity of an employee and organization. If an employer ignores this under the current situation, the employees resign without a second doubt.
Inflation and the cost of living have taken a big hit on the pockets. The firm’s on the other hand try to cut costs due to their unstable financial condition. As a result, most employees end up feeling dissatisfied with their company. The thirst for better compensation is another reason why employees gravitate towards firms that offer a satisfying compensation package.
One common demand after the pandemic has always been about working from home. Although the working model comes with downsides, still many people adore working from home. As people strive to balance work and life, they leave their jobs for firms offering this type of working model.
According to Harvard Business Review, the workforce aged between 30-35 years have the highest symptoms to put down their papers. The employees below 30 years of age suffer from financial uncertainty plus experience. After the pandemic, no firm wanted to hire an amateur. That’s why the hiring for that age group was reduced by 50%. At the other extreme, employees aged above 55+, although experienced, were also filtered out as the new-age firms were inclined towards enthusiastic entrants and fresh blood.
As a result, the firms focused more on the mid-level employees. This paved a bright way for working employees to leave their current jobs and hunt for their next big one.
Can Companies Step In to Help?
With shaky wages and other factors in play, the ball now rests with the employees. They have the final say, whether to stay or leave.
On the other hand, companies are willing to do anything to retain their staff and break the Great Resignation chain. As a great start, an organization can begin identifying the pain an employee is facing in the firm. Throughout my 20 years of experience in the corporate world, I have seen that change can only come when firms focus first on their organization, hierarchy, business model, and work environment.
Before taking any precaution based on a set assumption, organizations should try to identify the case first. It is critical for a firm to know the various psychological and professional underlying causes of low turnover. At the beginning of the search, companies should take the time to understand on what day, from which department, and what age of employees are leaving. Note the reason for which they are hopping from one firm to another. As soon as a firm understands the reasons behind a resignation, then it becomes easy to address them. The next step is to determine the impact of resignation on productivity and profitability. It is vital to understand the backlash and how each department deals when employees leave. It will help the firm match the situation and profitability through metrics which will tell the full story of the “Great Resignation.”
After identifying every weak link that prevents employees from working together, it’s time to take action. Firms should get started by creating personalized programs for each employee. The focus should be set on solving the issues with every employee. All it takes for the HR is to listen to all grievances of an employee. Second, keep a keen observer who can easily determine what kind of employees are leaving the firm. In the event where only women are leaving the organization, a firm might need to adapt the retention program to their needs.
The second a firm starts approaching employees personally, a retention strategy forms automatically.
Addressing only the employees isn’t enough in these situations. Firms need to have a constant check on employee health. Employee health is a concept which shouts out loud about the need to reduce burnouts, excessive workloads, and offering benefits to the employee. Honestly, controlling all three factors isn’t easy because one cannot control the psychology of an employee. At the least, a firm can start changing its internal environment. The workload of an employee should be lightened. This will allow workers to unwind and return to work much more focused.
After tackling the burnouts, firms should go ahead with offering benefits. Benefits like employment healthcare coverage, leave extension, convenience, and ESOP to high performing employees boost employee morale. These benefits earn the trust of an employee. The workforce is most likely to go the extra mile when they are offered such benefits. This isn’t retention, this is building loyalty. Employees with authority are loyal and satisfied. The combination of loyalty and performance transforms an employee into an asset.
Cloverbites By Rupesh Sanghavi 