The pandemic has had a wide diversity of changes in the U.S .and other countries across the globe. Many of these changes impact how small and large companies are doing business today. One of the most noteworthy is called the great resignation, mainly since workers leave their jobs in huge numbers. As a result, employers are now having difficulty attracting and retaining workers.
The Great Resignation is being driven by a wide range of factors, including those listed below.
- More Hybrid working opportunities.
- Re-evaluation of lifestyles and life values based on the job/companies that they work for.
- Workforce no longer see the 10-hour workday as a viable way of living a satisfying life.
- Toxic cultures and Working Environments are no longer easily tolerated as their only means of living.
- Poor management Styles less tolerated by employees – move to better worker environments.
- No longer restricted to one career or one job opportunity only.
- More leverage and power is now in the hands of the employee versus the employer.
- Digital Work is seen as a plus instead of the physical brick and mortar workforce institutions.
Additionally, according to the latest statistics on the great resignation, approximately 4 million people quit their jobs every month. This trend continues to impact geographical locations across the Atlantic. Therefore, since the game favors the employee, businesses must meet these ever-changing needs. Simply put, the old traditional management methods and recruitment strategies are no longer working. here are the nine significant changes that businesses and their management teams need to make going forward.
1. Recognize the Game has Changed in favor of the Employee – Poor Management Styles No longer Tolerated
One of the first things businesses need to do today is recognizing that the game has changed. And, these changes are in favor of the employee instead of the employer. Also, since employers are having difficulty attracting new talent to their organizations, they need to identify why. For instance, some of the most common problems that employees have been dealing with in the past involve poor leadership (i.e., the whip in the hand management styles. These inflexible managers work the employees long hours with little pay and little to no promotional opportunities. Therefore, because these workers have more options to relocate or change jobs, this management style in any organization will cause more recruitment issues like high turnover rates and the revolving door syndrome in the workplace.
2. Technical Excellence Promotions Must Be Replaced with Competent Management Skills – Upgrade Leadership Skills in the company
Today, it is relatively easy for people to advance into management positions without possessing little to no managerial skills. All the highly technical employee has to do is become the best technical employee in their field in a non-managerial role. Unfortunately, due to this HR talent practice, many people are being placed in positions with poor management skills that continue to disrupt the natural flow of workplace operations.
In many cases, the high-tech employee may never be sent to formal training, nor are they coached to lead their organizations successfully. And, in the final analysis, these people become poor managers that eventually fail at leading by motivating employees to do their jobs.
Instead, these poor managers lead their employees by force and not by choice. As a result, their employees will have no voice in the decisions being made for their business lives. These situations will also inevitably lead to employees’ dissatisfaction with their management, their work, co-workers, and the company as a whole. This is also one of the primary reasons why some companies have a higher turnover rate than others in the same industry.
Additionally, these old practices for promoting new management positions must change to meet these changing worker demands. Also, since these companies’ turnover rates are much higher, poor leadership can destroy a thriving company today.
3. Employers Must Pay Attention to the Individual Needs and Preference of their Employee
Another significant part of attracting and retaining good employees involves listening to the voice of the individual employee and what their needs and preferences are.
Today’s managers cannot afford to dismiss or ignore what their employees say about their jobs
and how their work hours impact their families and personal lifestyles. For instance, to make sure these employees’ needs are met, management must secure information about how the company can best assist in keeping a healthy balance between their jobs and their families. Based on the individual’s circumstances and the company’s operational needs, managers may want to offer flexible hours, additional health benefits, a pay increase, and more. This is especially the case for employees who may want hybrid work instead of working in the traditional 9 to 5 brick-and-mortar setting only. Simply put, the primary goal is to offer flexibility that is a win-win for both the company and the employee versus inflexible work hours that only meet the company’s needs.
4. Be Transparent in Facilitating Business First Mindset to Current Staff and Future Employees
Everyone knows that an effective business operation requires a business-first mindset to ensure the company thrives well in a highly competitive global work environment. To stay relevant and ahead of the competition, the company’s basic survival depends on getting the work done by that particular scheduled time. However, the company needs to be transparent about what they need and how both the company and employees can achieve the best fit. And, in these cases, the company must be able to use a common-sense approach to negotiate new deals that work for all involved.
When organizations make these changes in their work environments, they can remove from the old traditional disenfranchised employee mindset to a company meeting the individual worker’s needs. This is one of the best ways to attract new employees and retain the best talents in the industry.
5. Business must Eliminate the C-Suite’s Fear of Worker Anarchy
The hybrid work environment is well received today by employees who can benefit from these arrangements most. Therefore, this working style is an option that many workers prefer; it is becoming a staple in the great resignation. This is especially true for employees who worked at home throughout the pandemic.
On the flip side, many CEOs in some top organizations are not receptive to this new workforce demand. Instead, the executives in these companies are concerned about workers taking over the workplace with these newly found remote working environments that may not give them a full working day for a full day’s pay. Simply put, the higher-ups are seeking to hold on to the traditional brick-and-mortar corporate cultures. Therefore, they are trying to return to the pre-pandemic work lifestyle.
Unfortunately, for those companies that do not re-engineer their organization’s policies to meet these needs, there is a greater possibility that they may lose their best talent to businesses that are accommodating this new hybrid work style.
6. Promote Magnetic Friendships
The great resignation has also sparked another type of culture that was not promoted in the traditional work environments. While some organizations already knew the value of fostering close friendships among co-workers, most companies stayed to the norm of keeping these relationships separate. For instance, all their employees were required to perform at the highest possible level. Yet, forming close friendships within the workplace was considered extra and not a plus for developing more cohesive teams.
On the flip side, as hybrid workplaces and social networks become more commonplace, magnetic friendships are essential to an excellent operating team in the business world. According to information published by The Advanced Workplace Institute, this virtual workforce is producing new types of social norms that must be met by businesses that want to be successful in the future.
That said, if a company is going to be effective in attracting and retaining new talent, it is essential that they have programs in place that will foster deliberate strategies for promoting magnetic friendships. Implementing these strategies will be the responsibility of the companies leaders to do some of the following:
Set specific dates for break-out sessions to facilitate social relationships within the workplace, in both virtual and brick and mortar settings
- New employee celebrations are implemented for public newbie interviews.
- Organization leaders should sponsor team and community social events.
- Challenges and Competitions sponsored between teams
- Utilize Special interests to help facilitate magnetic friendships based on sports, music, films, books, and more.
7. Work Hard to Demonstrate Fairness – Internally and Externally
Favoritism and unfairness have always been frowned upon in the workplace. These situations tend to be ongoing in many companies today. However, companies have been called out for unfair practices that tend to hurt the workforce. For instance, some managers in an organization may favor a specific individual or a group of employees. And, in some situations, these issues are never somewhat addressed because of someone they know. These situations can be especially alarming regarding an employee’s treatment, benefits, promotions, and pay.
Whatever the case may be, if a company’s policies and practices are unfair and the public knows it, the best talent will eventually go to their competitors. To avoid and address these situations, both small and large companies must be transparent about the company’s policies. Further, they must be consistently applied fairly to each employee across the board.
It is also important to note that it is relatively easy for employees to swap this type of information today. For instance, employees in different companies can even share information on pay scales. Therefore, employers must pay close attention to what the company offers in salaries, benefits, and promotions. One problem in this area can lead to losing loyal employees to other companies in the same industry, mainly when offering better benefits and higher pay.
8. Make sure to Implement Strong Development Programs
Some organizations are much better than others when it comes to developing their employees. Therefore, this is always an area of opportunity for any company to distinguish itself from companies in similar industries. In addition, because most employees may join a company specifically for their promotional opportunities, you need programs in place that can start right away. For instance, management can create buddy systems to start and complete this employee development if management would like to facilitate these processes without taking on personal responsibility.
These buddy systems will not only assist in identifying where that particular employee wants to go in their career and find the best coach in the area of interest. This is one of the most promising ways to retain the best talent and loyal employees for your business. Also, when the word gets out, this can be one of the tiebreakers for accepting your job offer over others.
9. New Contracts – Need to be a two-way Street
HR should also pay close attention to the new contracts they are negotiating when people come through the door. Again, these contracts should be created in favor of the new employee instead of being swayed solely to benefit the company.
Furthermore, suppose this practice is not in place for future hiring practices. In that case, it is going to be very easy for a headhunter to snatch your new resources away quickly, especially after these employees have received costly extensive training from your organization’s budget.
