6 Ideas to Help You Avoid Joining the Great Resignation

There’s been a lot of talk about the Great Resignation for months, and for good reason. The severity of the news varies by industry and role (mid-career technology and healthcare workers seem to be leaving most). But however your organization is classified, maintaining a roster of excellent team members is important to your current health and future resiliency.?

I happen to be in the marketing and advertising space. Specifically, an agency. For context, we’re a privately-owned, mid-sized, purpose-driven agency specialized in digital engagement and emerging marketing technologies. We are based in the burgeoning Atlanta marketplace and work with a sizeable roster of beloved brands. We’re well-respected by clients because of our creative thinking, technology chops, genuinely caring client service, and rigorous delivery excellence. Really talented writers, UI, UX, product, and development professionals seek to work with us.?

You’d think that a company like ours would be somewhat immune to the challenges of the past (almost) two years but, like so many in our space, we saw contract and client timelines slow and purse strings tighten. But the industry seems to be getting back on track. Our flywheels are spinning stronger and faster than ever. That means the need for talented, engaged team members is rising fast. And yet, many professionals seem to be looking more to brand-side roles than agency or consultancy positions. Rather than seeking out the variety and pace of agency work, people are prioritizing predictability and work-life harmony that have been more of the hallmarks of in-house positions.

So we’re at an interesting (and mildly terrifying) intersection. It’s exciting, particularly after months of industry ups and downs, to be back on a rapid and accelerating growth track. But that trajectory can’t happen without the right people (in the right seats) on the bus. (HT to Jim Collins for the ever-useful analogy.) And it can’t happen without making sure those people are happy, healthy, fulfilled individuals.?

For leadership, it’s a daunting task to try to make sure every team member is happy, healthy, and fulfilled. Our purpose at Dragon Army is (literally) to Inspire Happiness. And I can say with confidence that our leadership team genuinely cares about each individual who works with us and we try to cultivate cultural and personal happiness. My sincere hope is that all managers and leaders would say the same. But at the end of the day, all you can do is try, because humans are complicated and it’s impossible to make someone else happy.

And in the midst of a global pandemic and mental health crisis, keeping people healthy is a necessary and enormous priority that has a huge price tag and layers of complexity that company executives are working to address but are generally poorly equipped to solve. (Take the recent finding that only one in 10 employees are taking advantage of mental health offerings in the workplace.)?

As for fulfillment, it looks a lot like happiness because where one person may base it on compensation and bonuses, others may be seeking clear career development, etc. Leaders have an imperative to know each team member, understand their needs and what drives them, and then have the resources and latitude to meet those requirements. We all know that isn’t always the case. I’m pleased to be able to say that we do weekly sentiment check-ins with our team members so we can be responsive to the needs of the agency as a whole and to the needs of our individual team members as they arise. (I’m far enough into my career and well enough integrated into the industry that I know this is not the norm.)

Perhaps it’s why we haven’t had any of our team quit during this Great Resignation. But we did have one who stepped out for a bit.

Me.?

Why I took a pause to pivot

I’m a vice president and equity holder in our agency. I guide a strong team of brand specialists and writers. I lead efforts to manage our agency presence in the marketplace and support our organic and new business growth. And I work directly on some of our most strategic client accounts.?

After more than 20 years working with agencies, including one that I built and sold, I realized that my mental engine was full of crud and my passion had dimmed dangerously.

So I did the most courageous thing I’ve done in my career and took a sabbatical. It wasn’t for a break or a vacation. It was for a reset and the future of my career. A career that I love. With an agency I love. And a team I love. Rather than resigning, I paused. Instead of stopping, I slowed down.

I write this in full recognition of how fortunate I am. I have an incredibly supportive ecosystem that includes my husband, who leads a very successful company and is tremendously watchful over his team members. It also includes my mentor, who challenged me to be strict with my reasoning for taking the time and rigorous in how I would use it so I could return better. And my colleagues at Dragon Army who, though I was inevitably putting more work on them for a month, not only supported the decision but encouraged it.?

They all saw what I knew deep down, which was that I needed a pause to pivot. So I took it. I’m a type-A full-FOMO workaholic. The decision was not comfortable.

Throughout the month away from the day-to-day trenches, I didn't prop up my feet on a beach chair to rest. Instead, I explored, read, honed my leadership skills, spent time in deep thinking, wrote tens of thousands of words, volunteered, traveled with my family and friends, ran a marathon, and dedicated time to becoming the leader and human that I want to be. I’ve done it out of a belief that I can be better for my family, friends, team, and our agency.

Most days, I kept to a workday schedule that I have mostly maintained since returning. The discipline must be part of the process of reshaping the future.

Every one of the millions of people who have thrown in the towel as part of the Great Resignation has her or his own reason for stepping out. In many cases, it’s to pursue a better job because there are so many openings. But at the heart of it, all of these people are driven by a set of needs that have gone unsatisfied. If you’re a leader who is languishing or burnt out, or you’re trying to help members of your team who are, I’ve collected a few considerations, tips, and resources that might help.?

Many of them come from people much smarter than me. I’ve put them all into practice and can attest to their usefulness.

Action steps to improve work fulfillment and balance

1. Make a list of what would need to be covered if you left or took an extended leave. It will show you what you could be handing off to someone else (that they may be excited to take on). It takes courage to see where you are replaceable but it’s also really freeing when you remember you’re part of a team.
2. Separate your ‘should’ from your ‘could.’ Just because you have the ability to do something at work, it might not be where you contribute the most value to your organization or yourself. Ask your peers what it is that you do better than anyone. Then ask yourself if it feels right and fulfilling. It takes humility to dig into your strengths and weaknesses but it’ll help you find your ‘should.’ (If it isn’t, maybe you’re not in the right organization or role. But at least you know.)
3. Prioritize based on what is most important to you personally and to the needs of the organization. Assess the difference between what is actually urgent and what just tends to feel that way. Then block your day to make sure the priorities and truly urgent needs have space. Lastly, eliminate or delegate things that are neither a priority nor are actually urgent. You’ll find you’re focusing your attention and time productively. It takes discipline to structure your time and eat the frog, but you’ll be able to feel even just a bit more ‘finished' at the end of the day.
4. Don’t mistake overwork for over-delivery. Just because you’re working more hours doesn’t mean you’re more productive. (All you have to do is listen to a few of the discussions about the early positive results of 4-day work-week experiments to see that carefully guarding work hours is a good idea.) It takes self-restraint to forego the satisfaction of checking things off the to-do list compulsively but it’ll give you more time to work in that 10% where the real value lies and it’ll protect you from exhaustion.
5. Look around at those whom you admire and how they work, and emulate them. Then look around at who might be watching and emulating you and, if what you’re modeling isn’t what you’d hope to see in your peers or employees, fix the problems. It takes real self-awareness to remember that you’re operating in the world and while you might not think people are watching how you behave, they are, just like you’re watching others. Show up the way you want to be known as a leader.
6. Spot your lead domino and get rid of it. We are creatures of habit. Chances are, you have one or two bad habits that trigger a host of others. If you can eliminate the lead habit, you can completely alter how you spend your time. (For me, it’s not allowing any work in the den. That space is protected for relaxing with family and friends. Opening my laptop to work in that space adds 10 hours to my work week, without fail. Also, it makes me the rude one in the room. Ouch.) It takes tenacity to rebuild and hold new boundaries but it’s much nicer to make a single change with ripple effects, rather than trying to alter a lot of little habits.

Resources to get you started

Journal and Plan: The OAK Journal is an extraordinary planner that helps you start each day, week, month, and quarter with reflections all shown to increase happiness and productivity. You’ll set 90-day goals then reverse-engineer the path to achieving them. Daily, you’ll begin with gratitude, a focus for the day, your three top priorities, your block schedule, and a thinking prompt.

Peer-assessment Questions: Three questions to ask your peers to assess how you can contribute better and improve your fulfillment. Chart the answers and look for common threads, then make a plan to lean into your strengths, eliminate what’s unnecessary, and build on your weaknesses.

• Where am I lacking as a colleague or leader?
• Where am I strong as a colleague or leader?
• What can I do to be a better partner for you?

Personal Purpose Exercises: Identify your personal purpose. Ask yourself two questions then with your answer in place (for example, mine is to bring out the best in others to help them reach their goals), think about how it informs how you spend your professional, volunteer, and personal time.?

• What do I do best?
• Where can I have the greatest unique positive impact on others?

If you’re languishing or burnt out, or you’re frustrated and overwhelmed, you’re not alone. And if you’re not alone, it means that at least some of your colleagues are feeling the same way you are. If we’re going to stop the Great Resignation, we’re going to have to do it together. This isn’t just an issue for bosses. Whether you’re at the top of the organization or you feel like you’re just a name on the payroll, you matter. The fragile economy needs you. Your role matters. Your fulfillment and health absolutely matter. You have a role to play in making sure you’re doing your best work in a way that is good for you.?

Don’t stop. Slow down. You might need to rest a while but then take responsibility to do the work to reset so you can move forward even better than before.

DM me if you want to talk about this working sabbatical or any of these ideas for revitalization. It’s been pretty transformative, and while you’ll only get a gestalt approach from me (I’m not one to ‘should’ on people), I’m glad to share my experience in hopes it might help you reset your engine.