Hi there, you beacon of energy and determination.
I don’t mean to start this blog on a downer and be another person delivering you more doom and gloom, but here’s some context for what you’re about to read.
Right now, market research data is showing that employee burnout is high, resilience is low, and the widespread uncertainty about work is real. Employees are leaving their roles left right and centre in a pledge to feel more heard and acknowledged, more fulfilled and challenged, and where career growth and progression is not only on the table, but achievable.
Before we carry on, I’m just going to leave some numbers here to explain why this is SO important.
66% of employees are likely to job hunt in 2022
41% of employees don’t feel valued at work
48% of employees say that their company culture has deteriorated during the pandemic
41% of employees directly feel the impacts of labour shortages.
So, let us unpick the data and explain what’s really causing your employees to abandon ship, and give you real, tangible tips on how to navigate the ‘great resignation’.
Strap yourselves in.
Tip 1.
Acknowledge. Recognise. Compensate.
It’s no question that the current labour shortage crisis is a massive headache for everyone working in talent attraction. The saturation of the market is causing low candidate quality and sky-high cost-per-hires. Budgets are being stretched as far as they possibly can, and sometimes that’s not enough.
But what impact is this having on your current workforce?
A whopping 41% of employees say that labour shortages are impacting their jobs by forcing them to take on extra work without compensation or promotion. Burnout is stated is one of the major factors in people feeling forced to look elsewhere for new roles.
These are 3 simple practices that can help your employees feel more valued, supported and encouraged to stay and perform.
Acknowledge
Let your employees know that you’re aware of their high workloads and that everything is being done to alleviate the pressures, workload, and burden of the current labour shortages.
Recognise
Recognition for their efforts can go a long, long way towards helping employees feel valued and respected. Why not try making a public, specific and value-aligned announcement to celebrate their hard work?
Compensate
Your employees are doing way more today than they were in pre-pandemic times. This is often for the same money and under the same job title. In the long-term, this isn’t going work. Compensate your employees fairly for the increased workload they’re delivering, otherwise they’ll look elsewhere for an employer who will
Tip 2.
Support your employees to achieve personal and professional goals.
Has your organisation become a no grow zone? If it has, then that’s a huge problem. 31% of employees feel that they’re not supported in achieving their professional goals at work.
With that in mind, the main pull factor for employee’s looking for a new role is career progression. People are re-evaluating what they want and need from their job and are looking for roles that better fulfil and challenge them.
With the market so in favour of the employee, you better believe they’ll go and find it.
Here’s three ways you can encourage your people to grow WITH you.
Organisational Support
This requires both investment and successful communication, but offering company-wide programmes and benefits such as training allowances can let your people know that growth is firmly encouraged.
Make sure that these benefits and initiatives are well communicated so that everyone is aware and can take advantage.
Managerial Support
Your employees are on a mission to succeed. Both with you, and personally. Help them do that with professional development and coaching sessions from the management teams. If your people feel like they’re growing under your guidance, then this will help them feel validated for staying put.
Colleague Support
More than anything, this is about developing the right kind of culture. If you’re employees don’t feel comfortable asking their peers for support, then something is wrong. Break down the silo driven structures and offer recognition to those pioneering in supportive behaviours.
Tip 3.
Ask, answer, and then ACT.
Disengaged, unheard, uninvolved, and unvalued. This is what your employees feel when their feedback isn’t considered. Sadly, this is a growing trend. Only 18% of employees say that their employer consistently acts on feedback. That’s SHOCKING.
Feedback is one of the most essential tools to drive high-impact action and engagement. Asking your people how they feel, answering and then acting on it is a primary way to solve problems and build trust with your team.
Ask
Gather frequent and regular feedback from all employees, not just those with the biggest voice. There’s loads of ways this can be done. Think surveys, or Q&A sessions. Think feedback panels or just simple conversations.
You’ll be surprised by the amount of data it will produce.
Answer
Above all else, your employees want to feel heard. So instead of jumping straight into action, reflect back to your employees and explain how the feedback gathered is going to be used.
Obviously, not every bit of feedback can be acted upon. Address that and explain why. If you don’t then those feelings of being unheard will creep back in.
Act
Where possible, identify micro-actions or quick wins that will have an immediate impact based on your employee feedback. This will help your employees see a direct impact of their feedback whilst the larger-scale and often slower feedback is worked on and put in place.
Tip 4.
Invest in resources to connect, both in-person and remotely.
48% of employees feel less connected with their company or colleagues since the start of the pandemic. That’s a biiiiiiig number. Workplace culture really is struggling to adapt to different ways of working post-pandemic.
The blame is consistently placed on a lack of communication, employee input and meaningful connection with the organisation and colleagues.
There are simple solutions to solve this, if you’re willing and able to make the commitment.
Manager one-to-one meetings
This should happen at least every two weeks. Listen to your employees and provide specific support to where they need it most.
Hold social gatherings
Social gatherings held outside of the work paradigm is key to help build relationships, the understanding of each other and how to collaborate effectively on tasks. This critical to breaking down that silo driven mentality mentioned above and encourage colleague support.