Spend any time looking at career and business magazines you’re probably familiar with this term: The Great Resignation. Or as I like to call it, And we thought we were in trouble before. The Great Resignation is the tide of employees leaving their companies — a massive, unprecedented disruption in the labor market.
What caused it? Upheavals in the workplace, a revelation among workers that they can work remotely and prefer to, a new wave of retirements that opened up new opportunities. Add a general tide of burnout and disengagement as companies undergo rocky digital transformations, and push production to gain traction in crowded marketplaces. And there’s the pandemic’s pressures, bearing down on already stressful roles.
Recent research from Microsoft found that 41% of employees are considering resigning from their jobs in 2021—compared to 15% voluntary turnover rates pre-pandemic (as reported by Mercer). The Wall Street Journal notes that the actual “quit rate” is four million people per month, the highest we’ve ever seen.
Today Meghan M. Biro talks to Morgan Chaney, Senior Director of Marketing at Blueboard, about how new approaches to recognition can help employers overcome this wave of departures, catalyze engagement, and turn this resignation ship around.
Gone are the days of working for one company for 40 years. These days, employees change jobs—and careers—all the time. And yet, many of us remain in the same jobs, even though we know we would love a career change.
The number one myth about career changes is that they’re simply too difficult. We think it will take too much time and effort, or that starting from the bottom in a new field isn’t worth the cost. In reality, changing careers will require some legwork, but it’s not at all impossible. You just need the right toolkit, and enough preparation to guide you through the process.
For one thing, relationships still matter, which means employees at all levels need to continue networking and cultivating work relationships. Employees also need to change their mindset, especially if they’re transitioning into leadership positions. And we all have a personal and professional brand to draw on—the key is to build it early and continue refining it.
In business, uncertainty is the lack of certainty or sureness of an event. In accounting, uncertainty is the inability to foretell consequences due to a lack of knowledge on which to make predictions. And when people can’t make predictions about their workplaces, they get nervous, unproductive, and disengaged.
That uncertainty and disengagement comes with a high price tag—The Gallup Organization estimates that there are 22 million actively disengaged employees costing the economy $350 billion each year in lost productivity due to absences, illness, and other problems related to unhappiness at work.
In order to shift to a happier, healthier workplace, leadership and HR professionals need to shift how they manage uncertainty. Instead of shying away from uncertainty, managers need to embrace it and take charge of gray areas to drive understanding, open communication, and engagement.