The Great Resignation – 3 strategies to reduce the impact

(Source: Bigstock.)

The Covid-19 pandemic has allowed workers to rethink their careers, work conditions, and long-term goals and is resulting in mass resignations. Remote work, flexibility and more workers, especially the younger cohort looking for work-life balance have created increased vacancies across many industries. And where your business requires an onsite workforce the pain is even greater.

Now that the world is opening up, the lack of staff is starting to bite, and with no magic bullet in sight, you need to think about how you attract and retain great people so your business will continue to operate and thrive.

So what can you do? Well surprisingly – it’s not about the money. Candidates want to be paid a fair wage for what they do, but they are much more interested in who they are working for, training opportunities and the culture of your company. All things that you can put in place without blowing the budget. Let’s explore each in a bit more detail.

Give them a reason to come and stay

What does your company stand for? What are you trying to do and why? Your team wants to know what your mission is so they can get behind it. It makes us feel like we’re part of something bigger than ourselves when we understand what purpose the company serves. People want more out of their work than a pay packet and to know that the business is getting rich from their efforts. You probably have a mission statement, but when was the last time you looked at it and talked to your team about it? Ask them how they live and breathe that mission every day. What does it mean to them? Start talking about it and you’ll find your team getting on board with it.

Give them confidence and grow them

Employees want to be proud of the company they work for and what they do. Having the confidence to do your job well is an important part of the equation. And with confidence comes opportunities for growth and promotion. The opportunity to be your best self and to reach your potential is something that employees are looking for as part of their role. 

According to Glint data, having opportunities to learn and grow is now the number one factor that people say defines an exceptional work environment. On top of that, employees who rate their culture highly are 25 per cent more likely to be happy at work and 31 per cent more likely to recommend working at their organisation. 

Having access to training makes people happy and happy people are more productive and they stick around too. And it needs to be quality training that is relevant and practical, and easy to consume when and where your team want it. Investing in training is particularly important at times like these, don’t just promise training to new recruits – actually deliver! You’ll find the ROI goes beyond increased revenue, reduced risk and the other standard measures. You’ll attract quality people, build trust, create loyalty, reduce sick days and build a learning culture.

Training was one of the significant contributors to Kathmandu winning ‘Best Places to Work 2022’. The team saw it as a major benefit of working for the company. See the case study here.

Culture

Culture is the environment that you create for your team. Not the coffee machine, the swanky office, or the Friday night drinks. It’s about the attitudes, beliefs and behaviours that are important to you, and that apply to everyone on your team. Culture is about being a good human, treating people with respect, communicating openly and honestly and leading without ego.

People want to know they matter. You need to have a position on diversity and inclusion, environment, mental health, and fairness and talk about it with your team. Culture is being able to be you at work. Yes, you need to work with a team, and having an understanding of different types of people and how we like to operate is useful. This is the time to stay close to your team. If you want to start building a culture that attracts and retains your people, start by caring for your people. It doesn’t cost anything, and yet it makes the world of difference. Want to know what you can do personally to build a culture in your company? Watch this short clip from Simon Sinek

“Customers will never love a company until the employees love it first.” Simon Sinek (@simonsinek)

Don’t sit by and watch as other businesses attract great talent. Be proactive in creating the type of workplace that people want to join, stay and refer.

RedSeed is an online learning ecosystem focused on changing behaviour, specialists in training for retailers. Explore our content library, LMS, coaching and bespoke offerings at RedSeed.com