More than a third of employees said they were looking to change roles in the next six to 12 months. We call it The Great Resignation and sleepwalking towards talent exodus.
If paying attention to your retention strategies and your Employee Value Proposition are pushed down on your agenda, because of fighting Covid and just keeping your business going, it’s time to stop and think.
Don’t wait until fear comes knocking at your door, because then it may be too late.
Several surveys and reports have been published this year, all predicting that one in three or one in four employees will soon be resigning.
The January 2021 study of more than 14,000 people globally was conducted by the IBM Institute for Business Value (IBV).
- One in four employees plans to leave their employer after the COVID-19 pandemic subsides.
- More in a previous blog article, read here.
BBC: In a survey of more than 2,000 people in the UK and Ireland conducted in March 2021.
- More than a third of respondents said they were looking to change roles in the next six to 12 months, or once the economy had strengthened.
- The full BBC article, read here.
Who coined the phrase The Great Resignation?
It was just a few months ago (May 2021) that we first heard about it. It was by Anthony Klotz, an associate professor of management at Texas A&M University’s Mays Business School.
Observing there?? were close to 6 million fewer resignations in the US during 2020 than there were in 2019, Klotz explained:
“What we’re seeing now is a clear decrease in organizational commitment due to a confluence of factors. Employees have gained a new perspective on what’s truly important to them. The pandemic brought death to our doorstep and that causes people to reflect. But there are also other important reasons why loyalties have wavered.”
Anthony Klotz, Texas A&M University’s Mays Business School.
But, what about The Great Depression?
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression that took place mostly during the 1930s (90 years ago).
It is the worst economic downturn in the history of the industrialized world, beginning with the stock market crash in 1929 (BE 2472), which sent Wall Street into a panic and wiped-out millions of investors.
The Great Depression is commonly used as an example of how intensely the global economy can decline.
Deloitte U.S. CEO: Employees don’t realize how much power they have
As CEO of a firm that advises thousands of the biggest U.S. companies, Joe Ucuzoglu knows all about the Great Resignation.
Mr Ucuzoglu said recently that that reason is in part to the very real pent-up demand to change jobs — or even careers — that’s been simmering over the last year.
He went on to explain that: “Companies are having to do a whole multitude of things to attract people, to retain them, and to differentiate, and dollars are just one piece of it. It’s about benefits, it’s about purpose, it’s about flexibility.”
How to start preparing yourself
The study by IBM Institute for Business Value (IBV) suggested these Tips to Employers; it starts with these three bullet points – but download the report and get their full advice:
Proactively engage with employees to better understand what is really important to them and their careers.
Foster a culture of perpetual learning that rewards continual skills growth.
Don’t take people for granted.
Employees want this
- Work-life balance
- Career advancement opportunities
- Compensation and benefits
- Continuous learning opportunities
- Organizational stability
