The Great Resignation

The Great Resignation

Ok, so what is the ‘great resignation’?

Well, as the phrase suggests it means a large group of people (sometimes from a certain age group) either within the economy in general, or a specific company standing down from their jobs and effectively resigning within a contained period of time.

According to a November 2021 poll on CV library, 76% of professionals in the UK stated that they were going to look for another job during 2022. The percentage itself is substantial, although it may not fully represent the wider society sentiment.

A large proportion of those who responded stated that they were looking to either re-skill or re-train to ensure they were more employable in order to provide longer term job security. Others said that they wanted improved flexible working conditions and an approach to work that would help prevent burnout.

The term ‘the great resignation’ originally came from the US but the concept has spread worldwide since the beginning of Covid. In the UK, staff were told to work from home due to government legislation and social distancing. It was at this point that people started re-evaluating their working life, commuting time, work life balance, reduction of burnout and the overall needs of their family.

People learned to balance home schooling needs, house sharing, lack of space for working, pressure on home Wi-Fi when running multiple lap tops, desk tops, tablets and phones and a multitude of other issues for many weeks and months. It effectively reshaped the way everyone approached home and work life.

At the end of the Covid restrictions, the same people are now being told to return to the office. Some are expected to carry on as if nothing happened, so 100% office based, some have been given a specific percentage of time they need to be seen in the office and have been provided with some element of hybrid working.

We’re not saying that some element of working back in the office is detrimental, as we know that there are statistics relating to mental health that demonstrate the benefit of social interaction at work, but it’s just worth polling your teams to find out what they actually want to do. Fully back in the office? Hybrid working? Fully working from home? Rather than just a one size fits all enforcement approach. Many employees are looking for something different and are not prepared to be treated the same way as they were before Covid.

What we are seeing is that a one size fits all mentality applied now, will lead to a great resignation happening in your workplace.

So how do you prevent your team from deciding the grass is greener elsewhere and leaving you and your company in the lurch?

1. Give your team a voice - don’t just leave everything to the management. Empower people to come up with ideas that will help make positive changes at work and with their work processes. Involve those doing the mainstay of your work and have an ideas forum where everyone feels that their opinion can be heard.
2. Visibly share company progress and KPIs – this is not the time to be a secret squirrel club. How can your teams know how you’re doing if you don’t share your company vision and goals? Sharing KPIs and monthly targets visually on screens or notice boards and during team briefings provides transparency of your objectives and gives everyone a reason to pull together if it is done in a positive way. Management are very good at assuming their workforce know what the company’s objectives are and how they are doing but just assuming that can lead to whispers and discontent.
3. Invest in the people you have - Provide people with training and upskilling. This is good for them and good for the business.
4. Create recognisable pathways for those wanting to grow within the business. Promotion should be possible for all employees.
5. Whether you like it or not, flexibility needs to be built in to your work hours. Employees are now looking for respect for their family and private life obligations. Be clear about when your teams can work from home and when you need them to be in the office.
6. Let your workforce have a voice over how the Firm’s hours, conditions and employment terms are operated. If you can regularly tap into feedback and suggestions, discontent can be dealt with before it leads to people leaving.
7. Train your managers to lead by example. Poor line management and a lack of people available to listen, empathise and react causes discontent and friction.

I really hope you found this newsletter interesting. You can also pick up a copy of our free PDF called "Taking Continuous Improvement from Concept to Business Reality" via the weblink below.

https://fullcircleci.co.uk/business-reality/

Alternatively, if you'd like to have an informal chat, you can send me a Direct Message via Linked In or email me on liz@fullcircleci.co.uk

There is also plenty of further information via our LinkTree here >> https://linktr.ee/fullcircleci, including links to our website, blog and YouTube Channel if you'd like to learn a bit more.

It would also be great to hear about your experiences of the organisations you're either working in now, or have worked in.

Thanks for reading

Liz