TAKE ACTION NOW to minimise the great resignation
All this talk of ‘The Great Resignation’ – What is it & What can we do to reduce the impact on our business?
There is no doubt the Covid pandemic has hit us all in different ways – for some job loss, financial hardship and reconsidering our work options, for others opportunity and a chance to weigh up priorities and look at balancing our work & lifestyle.
Flexible working is a key topic, propelled to the front of all working negotiations, the move to working from home or adapting hours due to home life commitments like home schooling has also been a major eye-opener for people and their priorities.
So, what does this mean for the future, what are people’s wants and needs from their roles as some degree of normality returns?
Much has been written about ‘ The Great Resignation’ starting in the US, flowing through Europe and potentially hitting Australian shores. A phenomenon born out of changes in priority, reassessment of career, values and realigning work life balance – combine this with a serious shortage of talent in the Australian Job market and you have employee empowerment pushing hard for change. This push for change will be felt across all industries and those companies who haven’t had the foresight to address key workplace fallout like morale, pandemic fatigue, dissolving culture and limited flexibility, will see their retention rates take a dive and secondly, they’ll struggle to attract new talent.
The impact of this huge shift of power is likely to hit March 2021, after Christmas, around the time bonuses are paid and just as the job market traditionally lifts. Data shows 2 in 5 Australians are getting ready to leave their current roles within six months*, cementing that HR and talent acquisition really do need to look very carefully at this potential risk. It is the HR and senior management’s responsibility challenge internally and consider;
a) How to retain their existing workforce
AND
b) How to attract great talent
Working with the employment market day in day out I’m seeing and hearing what is at the coal face of the industry. Here’s some of my key considerations for those attracting and retaining staff post pandemic;
- Find out what your employees want? Don’t assume! A recent PWC* study found major misalignments between what employers think their staff want and what their staff actually want.
- Look at how flexible your WFH policy is. Can you adapt to the address the key needs of your current staff. These will be individual needs – not a one size fits all.
- Are you open to a 4-day week or 9-day fortnight – This is already trending in the UK! It’s a great talent attraction strategy.
- Consider if your staff have been ‘overworked’ during the pandemic – Can you bring balance back to the role? Are departments short staffed? Recent research shows one fifth of Australian workers feel burnt out – Another nail in the coffin for retention rates!
- Do you have unfilled roles? Not filling vacancies has already pushed more work onto overloaded staff. Weigh up the costs on your business of an empty desk ie Productivity and Retention.
- Are you competitive with salary’s, with few internationals – The talent pool is skinny! The competition is prepared to pay more – particularly in businesses in industries that have benefited and grown during the pandemic – Online retail / Beauty / Health / Pharmaceutical
- Culture is a deal breaker, this is not whether you have a gym or free apples on a Friday, this is about bad leadership, bullying behaviours and micromanagement within your ranks … your business will be researched by potential candidates. If your executive team have been shying away from dealing with a ‘ problem leader’ because they have connections or perceived power – your business will suffer for that now!
It is clear whatever follows and however the pandemic has touched us – it has changed views on work/life balance, priorities, happiness vs financial gain and who we want to spend our time with. For many, this will be a permanent change.
To stay ahead of the market, TAKE ACTION NOW before you lose your key talent.
Want to talk more about this topic, give me a shout!
*PWC, What workers want report
**Business Insider, Australian Burnout Great Resignation
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