It’s been termed the Great Resignation, The Great Renegotiation, The Great Reevaluation, Quiet Quitting, The Big Quit, and The Great Reshuffle. But, no matter what it’s called, employers have been feeling the stress of filling open jobs and increased attrition.
While many guess at the reason for increasing job attrition, the community lies at the core of employee motivations; personal and family community, work community, and one’s purpose within the community.
Covid Caused Employees To Reevaluate Connection
When employees first went remote, work-related stress skyrocketed. Employees felt disconnected from their workplaces and teams. A connection was lost and many employees struggled to balance remote work with increased home responsibilities.
Many parents found themselves juggling kids that no longer went to school or daycare while attempting to work from home without many of the same technology resources they had at the office.
Adding to that, many employers needed to prepare to send their workforce remote. They needed the culture, leadership training, and knowledge on retaining connection and community among remote employees.
But that initial stress passed as employees found that they could build greater connections because of work, specifically because of working remotely. As employees adjusted to remote work, they found that the benefits of increased connection with their families, reduced commute time, and greater flexibility afforded them a better work-life balance.
Even still, most employees preferred to return to the office part-time so they could recapture their sense of community at work. While most workers stated they preferred a remote or hybrid solution as work returned to normal, some want to return to work 100% of the time.
Of those who wanted a hybrid or full return, the biggest reason was that they missed their work community.
The Great Reevaluation: Covid Spotlights Dissatisfaction
But, another thing happened during Covid. Employees who were already growing dissatisfied with the lack of flexibility in their work schedules, or location became almost hyper-focused on the needlessness of that struggle.
As workers and companies adjusted to remote work, many realized they did not need to return to the office to do quality, effective work. And more than half of remote workers found that they did better work remotely than they did in the office while having greater flexibility and work-life balance.
When many employers returned to the office, employees started a greater exodus than in previous years. But, the Great Resignation did not start because of Covid.
According to a study by Harvard Business Review, employers were already exiting their jobs when Covid-19 hit. In fact, resignations have been increasing for a decade.
When Covid-19 hit, many workers held onto their jobs, and as employees returned to work, the resignation numbers picked up again.
Reasons Behind Growing Employee Dissatisfaction
The Great Resignation has highlighted a common theme among dissatisfied workers. Employees have long cited autonomy, mentors, greater work-life balance, and a desire for greater job meaning. Employees cite the top two reasons employees feel undervalued by their employers and managers.
But, as the Great Resignation has gained strength, employees are no longer willing to only wish for changes. Employees are demanding greater connection at work, or leaving to look for it elsewhere.
Between one-third and one-fifth of employees plan to leave their jobs next year. And nearly every significant reason cited by those who have left or plan to leave their jobs, the root of the reason lies with a desire for increased connection.
Autonomy provides employees with a greater connection to themselves and their jobs as they gain the ability to make decisions around their responsibilities and their schedules.
The desire for mentors, often cited by younger workers, spells out an increased desire for connection with leaders who will guide them through the workplace.
A better work-life balance, and the ability to decide and control that balance, displays employees’ desire to connect better in their personal life and their increasing unwillingness to sacrifice connection at home for their jobs.
And the desire for a greater purpose professionally defines employees’ desire for a greater connection to their work and their communities.
Employees who feel undervalued by their managers or organizations feel disconnected from leadership at work or the organizations they work for. Fortunately, all of these connection issues are fixable.
Many Managers Aren’t Seeing Accurate Reasons for Attrition
But, employers can’t fix the true causes for attrition if they don’t understand them. And the data suggests that many employers still don’t understand the true reasons for the Big Quit. Employers are throwing out increased wages, adding benefits, and offering sign-on bonuses in an attempt to counteract attrition. But, it isn’t helping.
Employers who have successfully battled the increased attrition rates are doing so because they are soliciting feedback and making changes because of employee suggestions. The reasons most employers think employees quit are not the same reasons employees are quitting.
Only by soliciting feedback from existing and existing employees can organizations start to understand the real reasons benign the Great Resignation. And when feedback isn’t clear, ask more questions.
Employers can gather employee feedback through pulse surveys, annual surveys, focus groups, email and social media. Too many leaders make decisions without gathering employee feedback.
McKinsey & Company suggested seven important questions that organizations evaluate. Some of these questions can be answered by asking the right questions to employees.
- Do we shelter toxic leaders?
- Do we have the right people in the right place?
- How strong was our culture before the pandemic?
- Is our work environment transactional?
- Are our work benefits aligned with our employee priorities?
- Employees want career paths and development opportunities. Do we provide it?
- How are we building a sense of community?
When leaders seek and respond to employee feedback, the results are astounding. There is an increased 290% odds that employees feel they belong and 159% increased odds that they will do great work. Burnout decreases, and employees looking for new jobs decrease (O.C. Tanner Culture Report).
Good News for Employers and Managers
Employees leaving during the Great Resignation often leave to find greater community and connection elsewhere. Organizations with a stronger, more flexible work culture and community are finding that the Great Resignation has become the Great Attraction to their companies.
While it can take adjusting and effort, it is possible for employers to build a strong community, even among remote workers- and attract quality talent.
Among ways to build connection and community in work culture, there are three critical steps organizations can take.
- Build recognition into the work culture
- Create a strong sense of purpose
- Increase employee engagement by facilitating greater autonomy, feedback, and communication among teams.
As organizations pivot to align deeper with employee needs and desires, their work cultures will adapt and strengthen in ways that are impossible without a strong connection.
About Thanks
Thanks is a leading provider of a recognition-based platform that increases communication, builds teamwork, and makes recognition a part of company culture. Fast, easy and simple Thanks makes it easy to bring data-driven employee recognition to your entire organization. O.C. Tanner purchased the Thanks platform in 2019 to fulfill the recognition needs of smaller businesses.
Thanks customers benefit from the same decades of research in employee motivation and company culture that O.C. Tanner enterprise clients enjoy, but in a product that is geared for fast, easy and simple deployment. Whether you’re starting a recognition program or improving and expanding on what you already have, Thanks has everything you need to engage your people with effective, scalable recognition.