The Great Resignation: What It Means For Your Company
The last two+ years have forced us all to contend with huge cultural and economic shifts, from the pandemic to the unprecedented number of people leaving their jobs (or the workforce entirely). According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 4.3 million workers resigned from their jobs in January 2022 alone. “The Great Resignation”, coined by Texas A&M Professor Anthony Klotz, has forced many companies to reevaluate how they attract, retain, and manage their employees.
What’s going on? Why are valuable workers leaving their jobs en masse, even as we slowly recover from the pandemic?
New Priorities
In one way or another, COVID-19 forced us to reassess our values. Some of us lost loved ones. Others got to spend more time with family than they had in years. Still others felt the palpable relief of true, focused work without the distractions and stressors of office life.
These experiences and more led employees to think about their lives as a whole — and what was most important to them. For many, that meant leaving toxic work cultures or pivoting to companies that offered flexibility, more competitive pay, or better benefits.
Flexibility is Possible
Most white-collar businesses shifted to remote environments, at least temporarily, during the pandemic. Many leaders were concerned about productivity while their employees worked from home, but studies have since shown that productivity and performance increase in remote environments.
To workers, it’s clear that there is little reason to return to the office. More than half of surveyed workers want more flexibility now that the pandemic is waning. Yet, some companies are refusing to budge, insisting on bringing everyone back to the office. They want business to return to its pre-pandemic normal.
This is where remote companies take the lead, because they offer workers the flexibility they want and need to live life to the fullest. Now, workers aren’t forced to live in a certain location based on their company. And they certainly don’t have to settle for a co-located environment, if they want something different.
No Space to Process or Grieve
COVID-19 rocked the world — there’s no denying it. However, many corporations failed to take this into account. Even as workflow and management did a complete 180, leaders expected their teams to seamlessly adapt and maintain their productivity. Some even put their people at unnecessary health risk.
It was a clear sign of disrespect. As we all watched neighbors, loved ones, and internet strangers die, workers were told to keep on keeping on. There was no space to grieve or react in a human way. As a result, burnout soared.
And what’s the solution when you’re reevaluating your priorities and experiencing burnout? Leave the company at the root of your fatigue.
Business Has Been Transactional
For far too long, employment has been treated as a transaction by business leaders. Employees work, and they receive a paycheck. Simple as that, with no care given to engagement, work/life balance, fulfillment, or career development opportunities.
When the power balance was in their favor, this method worked just fine for businesses. People need jobs to survive, after all. But transactions go both ways. When people find a job offering more money, they’ll take it. Or, when the money (the heart of the transaction) is no longer worth it compared to the toll of the job, people leave — even without another position lined up.
With more job openings than ever before, transactional cultures don’t stand a chance. People will flock to the companies that take their entire well-being into account, rather than those that think of them as a number on a spreadsheet.
One-Sided Loyalty
The idea of company loyalty has been discussed for decades, with younger generations like millennials and gen-z accused of lacking loyalty. Perhaps this is true, but it’s not out of laziness or entitlement as some claim. The fact is, these generations have recognized the imbalance when it comes to loyalty. Corporations have time and time again demonstrated a lack of loyalty to their people, yet they demand loyalty in return.
The pandemic made this crystal-clear, as many companies laid off their employees despite earning record profits. The fact that “The Great Resignation” is a huge topic of conversation, rather than the millions of people put out of work on the cusp of a global health and economic crisis, proves that loyalty is one-sided.
Loyalty must be earned. No one, not even your boss, is entitled to loyalty. Now that workers have some leverage, they’re escaping this toxic idea and joining companies that seek to earn their respect instead of demanding it.
The Way Forward
For better or worse, things are changing. Workers’ expectations and priorities have shifted, permanently. Leaders who cling to old business norms are in for a world of hurt.
We started Ciircles.com because we wanted to help leaders create the kind of company where people love to work. Three years ago this was the ethical thing to do — the people-first approach. That remains true today, but now there’s even more at stake. It also makes good business sense.
When you treat your people like transactions, micromanage their every move, and demand the world in exchange for a nickel, you’re on a fast track to losing valuable talent. You simply don’t have the leverage to mismanage your workforce anymore.
I encourage every leader who reads this article to think long and hard about their own priorities. Do you want to be the kind of leader who does the bare minimum or the kind that changes lives and paves the way for a happier, more fulfilled workforce?
I hope you want the latter. If so, we’re here to help.