‘Great Resignation’ update: What we’ve learned — and need to work on
It’s about a year now since my clients started worrying about the “Great Resignation,” and it’s still going strong. Companies are having real difficulty filling open positions, and search firms are going crazy trying to find the right people for the right roles. So I was intrigued to listen to a panel of human resource experts talking about “Attracting and Retaining Talent in the Modern Workplace” recently at the Executives’ Club of Chicago.
Here are some key takeaways:
Employers are facing a dilemma. On one hand, their people are telling them that a key element in retention is having good relationships with their co-workers. At the same time, people are also insisting that they want to continue to work virtually, which makes establishing and maintaining social connections more difficult. No one has figured this one out yet.
People who were hired during the pandemic feel more like consultants than employees.
Holding “magnet events” to bring people together works well. Insisting that people come into the office so they can have Zoom meetings all day does not.
The looming recession may really change the landscape. As layoffs become a possibility, people may be more eager to return to the office to demonstrate their value to the company.
The “Great Resignation” may turn into the “Great Regret” as people confront the last-in-first-out rule for layoffs.
One tool that could use a ‘Great Resignation’ update
What hasn’t changed and isn’t going to change is that attracting and retaining top talent requires understanding what your people want from their jobs. I was dismayed to hear how many employers continue to depend on employee engagement surveys. It is far more impactful for managers to have frequent, one-on-one conversations with their people to learn what inspires and motivates them. If you as a manager don’t have time to do that, you’d better take a look at your organizational structure because you have too many reports.
All of this reminds me of the wisdom I learned years ago from my colleague, Dr. John Blattner. John said there are three key questions to determine whether someone is in the right job:
Are you having fun?
Are you doing good work?
Are you making money?
This is not rocket science. Ask your people those questions on a regular basis, take their answers seriously, and chances are your resignation problem will diminish rapidly.
Want more help to attract and retain great people? Get in touch with me at gail@gailgoldenconsulting.com.
