If your company has been impacted by the Great Resignation, you’re not alone. It wouldn’t be such a newsworthy thing if it weren’t widespread. Fortunately, the Great Resignation is a problem that most organizations can address. You simply have to identify the reasons you are struggling with employee retention.
To do that, you have to take a closer look at your policies and culture. If any of these six factors are an issue for your business, you’ll know exactly where to begin working on your worker retention problem.
- Problematic Management
If you have a worker retention problem, there is a better than average chance you also have a management issue. Workers will go to great lengths to get results for great managers, but nothing will drive them away faster than leadership that does the following:
- Micromanages
- Plays favorites
- Lacks competence
- Steals credit for employees’ work
- Isn’t empowered to advocate for their team
- Fails to communicate
- Bullies subordinates
How do you fix your manager problem? First, you have to identify it. Collect feedback from your employees and create an exit interview process that encourages workers to be candid about their experiences.
Next, consider how you select and develop your management team. Some of the issues above reflect personality issues that show that some managers simply aren’t a fit for the job. Others indicate a lack of training, support, and resources.
Finally, consider your selection process. Those selected for management are often the most skilled or productive employees. These are important traits, but they don’t guarantee that person will be a successful manager. For example, the best salesperson in your company may not have the characteristics needed to lead a sales team.
- No Clear Path for Advancement
There are some clear generational differences in how millennials and Generation Z approach work versus their parents and grandparents. Workers today are much less likely to center their identities around what they do for a living. Additionally, the pandemic has led many to reconsider how they prioritize work.
This has led to some misconceptions about what the current workforce wants. There is a pervasive belief that workers aren’t interested in advancement or professional development. Nothing could be further from the truth. While they may not be willing to work 80 hours a week to get there, most employees expect a clear path to advancement.
Hold onto good employees by showing you care about their development. Meet with workers regularly to discuss their goals. Give them concrete steps to take to advance in your organization. Then, follow through with those promised promotions. Help newer workers find their path by pairing them with mentors. Make training a benefit.
- You Aren’t Paying Them Enough
Workers are faced with unprecedented inflation, skyrocketing housing costs, childcare expenses that increase each year, and rising healthcare prices. Despite this, many companies haven’t significantly updated their wage schedules in years.
Worse, many companies that have been hit by the Great Resignation are offering great pay to new hires while letting salaries for existing workers stagnate. This has led to long-term workers quitting out of frustration upon learning that they are training employees who make more than they do.
Money is tight, but is there anything more financially devastating than losing business because of staffing issues? Research salaries and benefits for your industry and make sure you offer a competitive compensation package.
- Diversity Issues
Everybody wants to know that they will have equal opportunities and fair treatment in the workplace. However, it takes more than a written diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policy to convince them. They want to see those policies in action.
Take a close look at your team, and ask the following questions:
- Are we addressing diversity beyond race and gender?
- Is diversity reflected in our management tier and C-suite?
- Have we attracted diverse candidates for job openings?
- Do outgoing employees indicate that diversity is an issue?
Remember that your diversity issues won’t drive away only the people who are directly impacted by them. They’ll also cause you to lose team members with a deep sense of empathy and who value varied perspectives.
- Rigid Policies
Is your need to hold onto policies and enforce rules causing workers to look for employment elsewhere? If so, you aren’t doing your company any favors.
People crave flexibility and autonomy. Now, there are even more reasons to give them these things. The pandemic has been awful in many ways, but it also served as a great test case. It’s clear that people can and will be productive when given flexible schedules and the opportunity to work remotely.
It’s time to do away with policies that take autonomy away from workers or that seek to control processes instead of outcomes. Focus on creating a culture of accountability instead.
- Burnout
More employees than ever feel exhausted and overworked. In the past couple of years, many of them have been asked to adapt to new schedules and policies along with changing business models. Workers in many industries are also dealing with increasingly hostile customers.
The Great Resignation also contributes to increasingly worse staffing problems. Many companies are dealing with the worker shortage by simply expecting the workers who have stayed to do more, often with no reward for doing so.
If you’ve been dealing with staffing issues, it’s time to engage in some intensive recruitment marketing and fill those open positions. Otherwise, you could lose even more staff due to burnout.
