An expected turn post the pandemic
4 million people quit their jobs in April 2021, leading to a phase of the Great Resignation (Morgan, 2021).
Major companies in the US had expected the Turnover Tsunami to come in (Maurer, 2021). The environmental constraints brought in by the pandemic had restricted employees to move around in the market for almost 2 years. But is the opening of the wall of recruiting dam the only reason why 1 out of 4 employees decided to make a move or caused the Great Resignation? Are companies still struggling with the high turnover rates/employees not joining on the date/ lack of good resources? And most of all is there a way we identify what could’ve stopped it?
This retrospective article aims to identify possible causes of the turnover tsunami and aims to provide light on Recruiters and Leaders of organizations today to what they can do to prevent something like this from happening again.
According to an article in HR Executive, pandemic stress caused by long working hours contributed significantly to this stress. The burnout from being constantly on call for the employer had become the norm. This article presents a different view on how to retain employees beyond just giving work-life balance and good compensation-like hygiene factors. Growth Opportunities and development of people in the organization is a key retention strategy (with work-life balance as a hygiene factor of course).
Employees need to feel valued, and connected to the organization’s goals and culture, and see that there are other perks in staying with the organization apart from compensation and benefits. Today, employees are not worried to move to a job with lower pay where they feel they are more interested. Being vigilant as a manager to employee needs, and understanding how can the organization work towards addressing the employee needs (with whatever restrictions the organization may have). Career Development Plans for High Potentials and Leaders are quite adopted but preferred from the day the employee joins the organization. Providing a pathway on the way the job will build value in the next 5-7 years will help the employee see their future at the organization.
Aligning with organizational objectives in the start can prevent a bad hire but understanding individual objectives can ensure retaining a good hire. Employee stress and burnout are still valid however having eustress regarding a job is different from distress. Employers should strive to eustress in the organization through L&D initiatives on domain and behavioral fronts, even if it is something that the employee just wants to explore.
An excellent L&D strategy can be a strong USP in the market of recruiters, for the generation that wants to learn about themselves, work, and others. Providing behavioral training to Managers for the next step up can pave the way for internal hires, promotions, and other positive turnovers.
Let’s relook at the pandemic, going through tough times we all needed support, if our organizations had supported us with basic hygiene factors like good compensation, worklife balance, and less disengagement but with helping us learn how to tackle the covid situation emotionally, financially, and physically, by bringing in some experts, we might’ve appreciated their efforts more.
L&D certainly comes at a cost that is not cheap, so let’s talk numbers. Recruiting a new employee can cost the organization almost 1 or 2 years of annual pay for the respective role (Wigert, 2021). As L&D initiatives can have a range of expenses, organizations spend an average of $1000/employee in a year for L&D initiatives (Malik, 2021).
While basic hygiene will be key in retention but it won’t be enough, going beyond for the employee, as we go for the customer, is the need of the hour. Making everything personalized, providing a clear roadmap, and giving more than just necessary resources will be crucial to retaining good hires.
Work Cited:
- Avoid a ‘Turnover Tsunami’ with HR Strategies that Shelter and…. (2021, August 26). G&A Partners. Retrieved from gnapartners.com/resources/articles/avoid-a-turnover-tsunami
- Gallup, & Inc. (2022, June 10). This Fixable Problem Costs U.S. Businesses $1 Trillion. Gallup.com. Retrieved from gallup.com/workplace/247391/fixable-problem-costs-businesses-trillion.aspx
- Malik, P. (2022, August 3). What Is the True Cost of Employee Training? (2022) – Whatfix. The Whatfix Blog | Drive Digital Adoption. Retrieved from whatfix.com/blog/cost-of-trainingAdoption. employees/#:~:text= What%201%20the %20A verage%20Cost,small% 20business %20%241%2C678) %20companies.
- Maurer, R. (2021, July 6). Turnover “Tsunami’ Expected Once Pandemic Ends. SHRM. Retrieved from shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/talent-acquisition/pages/turnover-tsunami-expected-oncepandemic-ends.aspx
- Morgan, K. (n.d.). The Great Resignation: How employers drove workers to quit. Retrieved from bbc.com/worklife/article/20210629-the-great-resignation-how-employers-drove-workers-to-quit
- Vanderbloemen, W. (2021, January 14). Prepare For The Great Covid Job Churn -Why 2021 Will Be A Year Massive Job Turnover. Forbes. Retrieved from forbes.com/sites/williamvanderbloemen/2021/01/13/prepare-for-the-great-covid-job-churnwhy-2021will-be-a-year-of-massive-job-turnover/?sh=774db211114f
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