The Great Resignation

Last week Fast Company’s Innovation Festival took place in New York. Loyal readers of the Indiandribble newsletter may remember my report on the edition of 2019, which was an explosion of talks by innovative companies in the communications business: animation studios, immersive sound campaigners, data-driven moguls that predicted the ins and outs of your future businesses and cancel culture.

The agenda of this year's virtual edition was about sustainability, social profit, motivating the workforce, life/work balance, inclusivity and the occasional celebrity startup talk.

Should I stay, or should I go?

The talks that struck me most were the ones about 'The Great Resignation'. Now that the economic recovery post-Covid is outpacing the supply of good people, it seems only logical that a lot of people start switching jobs. A study on Linkedin mid last year pointed out that 41% of the global workforce would consider leaving their current employer within the next year. I thought that was quite a bold number following the past year and a half of Covid lockdowns and job insecurity.

So what seem to be the drivers of this massive job switch?

• In the past year and a half people realized that they can have a different type of life. A life in which family, friends and me-time are at the forefront.?
• A lot of people realized there is no such thing as job security and that a flexible job is an interesting option.?
• Working 5 days out of 7 doesn’t seem to be a must either.
• Finally, most people also want a job that is more meaningful than just getting their bills paid. Something you usually don’t have time to reflect on.?

Several speakers and panels shared interesting viewpoints on the matter. Wendy Woods, MD and Senior Partner at BCG, says :

The only way we’re gonna make substantial progress on the challenging problems of our time is for business to drive the solutions.

A collective push from the public, social but also the private sector is necessary to move things forward.

and it seems employees expect this push from their employers!

But what exactly triggers people to change jobs?

Employees have new expectations but when questioning the reasons to switch jobs, they give the same old answers we’ve heard before: "41% want a higher salary, 34% want more flexibility, 33% are looking for career advancement and 23% are looking for more benefits." Hey, what's new?

A recent CNBC study revealed there's actually more to it:

• 80% of the people want to work for a company that values diversity, equity and inclusion. And this… is not a Covid thing. Other events happened in the past 18 months as well. Marches for change, BLM, George Floyd, a pressure on companies to take a stand in these debates, climate crisis awareness…
• People in the workforce mention a lack of transparency with their employers on the subject cited above. Most of the time employers don’t talk about it as they probably wouldn’t know how to handle questions about it.

Here's to speaking up!?

In the US nearly 2/3 of the workforce agree that the Covid pandemic has caused them to reflect on their purpose in life, and more than 50% of employees say they are now more prepared to voice objections to management, in comparison to last year.?

The Harvard Business Review expects employee activism to become a defining feature of the workplace. Read how not to respond here:

'Employee purpose' is a term that should be high on every management's agenda if you want to get your organization ready for the next decade, years or even upcoming months...

How do you get things moving in the right direction?

The current situation pushes a lot of organizations to look at employees, the way they have looked at customers for ages. What do they need? What do they want? At what price? And how do I make an emotional connection with them? These questions are already a great start.?

Employers realize they need to create the same emotional connection with their biggest stakeholders: their employees! That means strengthening their employee value proposition.??

The employee value proposition (EVP) is the system of support, recognition, and values that an employer provides to employees to achieve their highest potential at work. This comprises both monetary and non-monetary benefits.

Final thoughts

It seems like purpose?and?a paycheck will be the new normal, so this is a good time to evaluate your EVP.

The most challenging aspect is the purpose part, as this is not a walk in the park. Supporting a gala or a 5K run is like “let me just write a check to a charity” and that won’t cut it anymore, especially for the newer generations of the workforce coming in.

As moderator Afdhel Aziz of 'Conspiracy of Love' puts it:

“It’s not enough to give back anymore, companies need to pay it forward."

At Indiandribble we’re working on our EVP's, so if you want to exchange thoughts over coffee with our MD Roel Verhavert, feel free to reach out.