top of page

The Great Resignation: Part 2 - Employer Guidance

Writer's picture: Laura Hope GoldstoneLaura Hope Goldstone

In this second commentary piece, we'll discuss The Great Resignation from the employer perspective, exploring how to retain talent and create an environment that employees want to be a part of. If you missed Part 1, you can find it here.


If you lead a team, what would you do tomorrow if everyone beneath you quit? If you are on a team, what would you do all of your coworkers suddenly quit and you were left to pick up the slack? As an employer, we need to put ourselves in the shoes of our employees and consider what's causing the Great Resignation. Then, we'll be able to come up with viable solutions around what we can do to mitigate the risk of further negative impact.


Let's get right down to it.


How should our leaders adjust their approaches in order to mitigate the risks of the Great Resignation? Here are the areas we think leaders can help employees feel heard and respected and appreciated in ways that inspire them to stay and grow rather than flee for greener pastures.


Empathy. Sometimes, all we need is kindness and understanding. If you are about to be rigid, ask yourself if you have to be. What happens if you're not? What if you are a bit more flexible this time? Are there areas that you might have such a strong opinion where you could take a step back and empower diversity of thought instead? Do you uphold very tight policies that could be loosened to make employees feel human? Your tone of voice, the way you run meetings, the ways you communicate, the words you use, the processes you require, the flexibility you allow, your manner of checking in, the way you respond to news, the context you give when relaying information...even these seemingly minute details could greatly impact your employees' view of your empathy level, especially when taken in aggregate. Remember that health is more important than work, and remind your employees that you feel that way. Then, live it. Make sure you're not being so harsh that you're pushing people away; your employees want to be treated as human beings, and it's up to you as a leader to make sure that is achieved.


Appreciation. How often do you tell your employees you appreciate them? How do they know you're happy to have them on the team? Employees who don't feel valued in their role will look elsewhere. If they think their job is meaningless, or they think their time is wasted, the Great Resignation will inspire them to find a company that will recognize their worth. You can do this easily as a leader - as long as you are authentic about it. When employees email you deliverables to review, how often do you thank them? Are you specific with your thank yous? Do they know what strengths they have that you value most? Do they see a line between their work and some greater impact such as revenue? Do you debrief as a team and recognize everyone's efforts that contributed to the success of bigger projects? These are all techniques you can add to your arsenal to help your employees feel appreciated for the work they do each day. Showing appreciation in small ways here and there will accumulate to a solid relationship and hopefully some loyalty and deeper connection.


Opportunity. What can you do that you haven't done before for your employees? From a professional development standpoint, do you have everything you need out of them? Do they have everything they need from you? If there are opportunities for upskilling, now is the time to embrace them. Employees are looking for direction and vision backed by action and movement. They don't just want to have a carrot dangled in front of them - they want to see a clear path forward and know you are supporting and coaching them along the way. Hold conversations about career paths and aspirations; evaluate your strategies and plans and determine whether some team members are ready for more advanced work. You could also consider whether a tertiary interest may be something to embrace - for example, if a team member wants to learn about project management, but their job entails designing flyers, you could consider giving them more responsibility on the PMO side of the projects they work on. You could allow employees to shadow other employees or explore lateral movement. You could hold cross-training sessions to expand employees' skill sets. If you can align a business need with an interest on your team, you could mitigate a flight risk, improve your team's output, and empower an employee to grow professionally - win, win, win.


Boundaries. Employees may begin to say no. They may be advised to start setting boundaries for themselves to improve their work-life balance. This doesn't mean they can be rude or insubordinate. But it also means they might overstep their bounds by doing something they've never done before and potentially failing in the process. If you can help your team members learn how to set boundaries, and empower them to have conversations about their situations so they don't feel they have to say "no" outright or quit rather than dealing with things, they may feel better about coming to you for help. It may be a difficult conversation to have, but it will be worth it in the long run, as most difficult conversations are.


Benefits. This one comes last because it is often out of an individual leader's control (unless you sign the checks), but it's been at the forefront of employees' minds during the Great Resignation. While you may not be able to simply give someone a raise or a promotion, improve their health insurance plan, or increase their PTO total, you may be able to influence the culture at your company to enhance benefits for all employees. In the meantime, you could consider offering flexible schedules if you don't already, and of course working remotely if possible is the safest option during this time. Communicate honestly and let your employees know you are working towards these - but only say something if you truly are making strides, as employees who are strung along with no end in sight will join the Great Resignation without hesitation.



And sometimes, calling out what not to do is just as important:

  • Don't use fear-mongering techniques to try to get employees to stay.

  • Don't string employees along by presenting promises without plans and action.

  • Don't shy away from communicating explicitly and honestly about the situation.

  • Don't ignore the issue or think you are above it.

  • Don't resist change when it is necessary for survival.

  • But don't abandon your mission, vision, and values either.

  • Lastly, if you are adding to the commentary with your own content or marketing, don't exploit staffing issues in your messaging to your clients. They know they're struggling; present solutions and thought leadership and benefits to them and offer to help. When all of this is said and done, you don't want to be remembered as a sleazy, inauthentic money-grubber. Coming full circle, authentic empathy will help you a lot more than exploitation.


We are all humans, and we can't forget that. In order to mitigate risk from the Great Resignation, we have to understand the motivations behind it. Only then can we work toward giving employees what they need to feel happy, fulfilled, and productive in their roles.




6 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Comments


©2020-2024 Storyhaven by Laura Goldstone.

bottom of page