Maintaining Employee Retention During ‘The Great Resignation’

(3-5 minute read)

As pandemic restrictions ease and workers head back to their respective office spaces, many employees are considering a job change. In fact, the number of resignations seem to be multiplied due to the wide-spread epiphanies related to family time, remote work, commutes, and other factors making more and more workers reluctant to go back to the 9-to-5 lifestyle. Professor Anthony Klotz of Texas A&M University has coined this phenomenon “the great resignation.”

As explained by Klotz, there has been an accumulation of stalled resignations due to the impacts of the pandemic. The argument is that in times of uncertainty and insecurity, people tend to behave conservatively and stay put in order to avoid risk. Yet once things stabilize again, it is reasonable to expect unsatisfied people to head for the door.

So, what does this mean for you and your business? Well, a lot of uncertainty. It is more important now than ever to buckle down and consider the culture you’ve created for your workforce. However, all is not lost – Here are a few ways you can ensure you are meeting the needs and expectations of your employees:

• As you move back to more onsite work, be sure to talk to staff about outstanding issues, concerns, or barriers – conduct 1:1 meetings between staff & managers to ensure you understand anything you may not have taken into consideration prior
• Be patient – it takes 21 days to go from “new” to “habit”, and then by the 90^th day it becomes permanent. People have “permanently” adopted the changes that fit for them over the last year, and it will take that long for them to create those new habits & permanent behaviors as the adapt to new conditions
• Offer hybrid work accommodations such as a combination of remote and in-person hours
• Create “collaboration hours”, times when the entire team is around for meetings, check-ins, and collaborative opportunities. Other times, when people need to focus, can be done onsite, from home, the coffee shop, whatever work environment works for them
• Make sure your employees health care and insurance needs are taken care of – if you have the opportunity create a richer or more diverse offering, now is the time to do it
• Focus on Mental Health – the benefits you already offer embedded in your medical plan(s), Employee Assistance Programs, or anything that may provide support

As always, if you need help navigating these constantly shifting waters, please reach out to your friendly, neighborhood HR Business Partner at Axios HR. Axios can provide a full range of consulting services, payroll & benefit administration to ensure you are creating a world-class work environment for your team.