The Great Resignation: How Can Companies Respond To It?

The Great Resignation: How Can Companies Respond To It?

In this Article you will find, How companies respond to resignation, Crafting a Retention strategy, Defining & Communicating The Career Path for the best talent.

As the world is gradually heading towards the 'new normal', companies are facing many struggles. The past two eventful years have sown the seed of 'the YOLO' (You only live once) mindset in people's minds. People have witnessed how even their trivial choices can have a lasting impact. Thus they have developed a habit of questioning every activity they devote their time to. And when it comes to work, they are asking themselves questions like:

This intent whether people should stay or leave their job is what is fueling the great resignation. This movement has turned out to be even greater than the great recession, where people held onto their jobs to stay in the market.Compensation packages are not the only reason for resigning. Factors such as lifestyle and an individual's career choices also play a role, which are beyond our control

Sailing Through The Rising Tide of Resignation

Before pressing the panic button, the organisations will need to take a look at the great resignation from a broader lens. What they need is to identify the reasons their talent crisis revolves around and find solutions to the same.

Crafting a Retention strategy

It is the boat that will help companies surf through the storm. Leaders have to ensure that they craft a great retention strategy. To make this happen, first they have to analyse and quantify what are the exact reasons behind so many employees putting in their resignations. For this, they need to calculate the retention rate.

Second, they need to detect the blind spots. For this, leaders will have to explore different metrics such as compensations, work culture, size of increments, productivity and training opportunities. Analysing these factors may help them understand the underlying causes. Once they are able to figure this out, they can make subsequent changes in the retention strategy. For instance- An organisation is facing a rise in the number of resignations. After analysis, the HR manager realised it is because the company has decided to call employees back to the office full time.

To understand the personnel's mind, managers decide to ask them if they are ready to finally move back by sending them a poll.

After receiving 'No' from 75% of employees, managers decide to think of alternatives for the same. After discussion, they decide to resort to hybrid working- asking employees to attend at least 1-2 days at the office. For employees living at a far distance, they create satellite office spaces that could make the commute easier for them.

During the whole process, managers make sure to communicate with employees and take their opinions as well. This makes them feel engaged.

Defining & Communicating The Career Path

The importance of employee learning and development cannot be stressed enough. According to a Harvard business school survey, 62% employees agree that professional development-including skills and adequate credentialing is important. Employees who feel valued and can see themselves moving upward in the business are more likely to stay. Invest in mentoring and defining career pathways that give employees a clear sense of purpose.

It is important for leaders to partner with the right mentors to extend proper training and support. Also, setting clear milestones and providing hands-on development- where employees are placed in new projects and challenges is a great way of training.

But ensure to maintain work balance during these training sessions. Also make sure that employees do not feel that they are bombarded with more work on the pretext of training.

Have An Authentic Organisational Purpose

Gartner has quoted in one of its surveys that 'the era of contract employment, where employees provided services purely in exchange of work is over. Today they want employers to recognize their value and provide them with a value proposition.'

Unlike the pre-pandemic trend, high compensation is far from being the only motivator. People want to feel valued at their workplace. They wish to bring their authentic selves to work and want their jobs to be driven by a purpose. Employees want to work with organisations that either align with their purpose, have a significant role to play in the fast-paced world or both. This makes it important for organisations to communicate its purpose with their employees.

Takeaway: Detecting a Sweet Spot

To stop the best talent from turning in their resignation, employers will need to find the middle ground that works for everyone. According to a recent Harvard Business School study, 'employees who spend 1-2 days working from the office, on a flexible schedule create the best outcome.' This sweet spot can be achieved by using a hybrid work culture.

If McDonald's, the world's largest food chain brand can effectively work on scheduling basis- letting their employees plan working hours as per their availability, why are companies hesitant to adopt the same? Introducing hybrid workforce can help companies function well even with a higher attrition rate. The workload of the employees who have left can be delegated to freelancers and contractors instead of the other full time employees.

The post-pandemic workforce does not want to wait for retirement to enjoy their lives. The employers who are spending more time understanding their employees are more likely to retain them. The future of work is hybrid. Employees want flexibility, competitive pay, benefits, and growth opportunities. And employers will need to find ways to provide them the same.

A bright side of great resignation is that most employees resigning are the disengaged segment. Instead of worrying about losing the disengaged employees, companies should use new age platforms to find and hire culturally fit employees.