At-Risk Employees: Why Professionals Today Are at Risk of Dropping Out of Work

“At-risk” is a phrase you may or may not be familiar with. If you know the term, you have most likely heard it in reference to K-12 students. “At-risk” is often used to describe students who are considered to have a higher probability of failing academically or dropping out of school due to economic, social, personal, or family circumstances. There are four major contributing factors which may potentially put a student at risk: 

Community: A lack of resources, tentative support for education and public schools, and low income/high crime student communities all detract from the focus and importance of finishing an education.

School-Related: Poor resources, inadequate programming, and ineffective counseling can deter a student from receiving a quality education. In addition, poor discipline policies and a poor campus culture of bullying can also result in students becoming disengaged in their education. 

Personal Struggles: Depression, disabilities, drug/substance abuse, or being an English as a second language (ESL) learner are all struggles students deal with, which may infringe on a positive and healthy learning mindset. 

Family Life: The most pressing concerns in a student’s education are upbringing and family life. According to numerous studies, domestic, sexual or substance abuse, divorce, poverty, and coming from a migrant family all have profound effects on students and how they learn. 

These factors have forced hundreds of thousands of students to become disengaged in their studies and school—ultimately leading to higher drop-out/lower graduation rates in high schools across the nation. 

Today, the term “at risk” is no longer limited to just the youth and their struggles in the American school system. The emergence of at-risk employees in the professional world is a troubling trend as more and more professionals are finding themselves disengaged, stressed, and lonely in the workplace. Accomplished professionals are at risk in their profession, either resigning from their positions or changing industries altogether due to poor company culture, workplace harassment, or a lack of support and guidance when personal challenges arise. The turnover rate among companies is astronomical, and we’re still struggling to understand the core reasons employees disengage and ultimately jump ship. 

Here are four ways you can positively combat professionals becoming “at-risk” in the workforce:

All In: Diversity and inclusion initiatives are more prevalent now than ever before. Workplaces are recognizing that diverse teams are more creative, innovative, and produce greater results. However, a diverse team is simply not enough. Inclusion in the workspace is key in creating a culture where all voices matter and is essential to making employees feel heard, purposeful, and valued. Roundtable breakouts where everyone gets an opportunity to speak or assigning a new facilitator at weekly meetings allow employees to demonstrate their leadership capabilities and can create an inclusive work environment. 

Psychological Safety: Stress leave among employees across the US is at an all-time high. Anxiety and uncomfortable feelings among co-workers are causing individuals to lose countless hours of sleep. Fostering a positive company culture for employees is now more crucial than ever as most of our day is spent in the workplace. Team building activities, zero-tolerance policies against bullying and harassment, and leaders who take a stand for what is humane and right—not strictly what is financially beneficial—is a must for transformational change and safety. All professionals in a company should feel safe enough to go to work and trust that their HR team and upper management care for their well being. We wouldn’t expect students to learn in poor, unhealthy environments; why should we expect our employees to? Annual anonymous reviews are a great way to ensure your team truly feels safe and comfortable coming to work. 

Transformational Learning: While companies are investing millions of dollars in workplace well being and professional development, most companies are taking the cosmetic approach and using only e-digital programs to facilitate organizational development. Research and new studies show that true transformation can only occur when in-person engagement, hands-on activities and collaboration, and emotionally connected learning takes place. eLearning is a great precursor and follow-up to onsite training, but not a sustainable substitute. Both teaching methods—face-to-face and digital—are needed to create true change and growth within the workplace. 

Connected Leadership: 70% of individuals who leave their jobs do so because of their upper management and leadership team. Connected leadership is needed now more than ever as human beings are continuing to become more disconnected. People want to know that their leaders care about their well being outside of the workplace. It’s important to understand that employees have challenging outside lives, thus making it difficult to put their best foot forward at work. A compassionate leader recognizes the humanity in their employees. Companies who uplift and foster positive growth are more likely to build a team of loyal, “all-in” employees. 

We have a long way to go to cultivate workplace well being and thriving company cultures; however, the first step of change is recognizing the need. Start by providing or suggesting an anonymous survey for your team addressing the above four elements. Hearing what your team has to say is the greatest catalyst and indicator for change.