How Great Leaders Stand Out In The Face Of The Great Resignation

Innovation How Great Leaders Stand Out In The Face Of The Great Resignation Daniel Schiappa Forbes Councils Member Forbes Technology Council COUNCIL POST Expertise from Forbes Councils members, operated under license. Opinions expressed are those of the author. | Membership (fee-based) Sep 2, 2022, 10:00am EDT | Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Daniel Schiappa is the Chief Product Officer at Arctic Wolf , a global leader in security operations.

getty The shockwaves from the “Great Resignation” continue to reverberate throughout almost every industry, with no signs of letting up anytime soon. The monthly jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics—a bellwether of economic health in the U. S.

—continues to log millions of workers leaving the workforce. For several months in a row, they’re leaving in droves that confound economists and bosses alike. What’s more, the “quits” rate in this monthly data stream—ostensibly a measure of workers’ willingness to leave their job voluntarily—has also reached an all-time high .

Couple this mass worker exodus with unprecedented labor shortages across industries, and it’s no surprise that the convergence of these two mega trends is dominating so much attention. There’s also no shortage of conversations happening at every organization about what to do about these intersecting business challenges to recruit and retain talent when the tide is shifting. The existential questions amass, like: How do we recruit and hire the right talet, with the right skills, when labor pools are hyper-competitive and jobs are going unfilled for months? How do we foster and grow the people we already have in our ranks to defy dissatisfaction, stress, burnout and tumult turnover? I won’t argue for a one-size-fits-all approach, and there are qualitative and quantitative arguments about what businesses can do to retain workers in hard-hit sectors like healthcare and tech.

However, as the senior executive of a fast-growing hiring company with a turnover rate in the single digits, here are the cultural concepts we put into practice to face this head-on. MORE FOR YOU Google Issues Warning For 2 Billion Chrome Users Forget The MacBook Pro, Apple Has Bigger Plans Google Discounts Pixel 6, Nest & Pixel Buds In Limited-Time Sale Event Create a shared sense of purpose and mission. Culture eats strategy for breakfast, as the saying goes.

Front-line employees, managers and leaders must feel aligned and connected to a company’s culture and mission, no matter how solid the business strategy is. This is, of course, much easier said than executed, and companies of every size are constantly working to create a strong sense of purpose and culture to execute a successful strategy. For us, creating this sense of belonging begins before employment does.

We have dedicated large portions of our HR and recruiting resources to create a unique and engaging onboarding experience for all new employees. And it doesn’t just end at the end of orientation. Regular and purposeful connections among employees—new and established—are programmed into the experience so we can continue to reinforce our shared mission of success.

Support internal mobility. Despite best efforts to recruit the right talent for the right roles, sometimes people just aren’t a fit. Or, more commonly—especially throughout the course of the pandemic—people’s expectations and goals change, and they may be better suited for a different role in the company.

What typically would have been a pathway to turnover is another great opportunity to make efforts to retain talent. The key is a transparent conversation between employees and managers about what’s working and what’s not. Then, they must work together on identifying where they may be a better fit and develop a transition plan.

This level of trust and cooperation will leave a lasting impression not only on the employee but also on those that interact with that individual. It will go a long way in building a sense of belonging and a shared sense of success. Promote from within and often.

Among the core trendlines in the Great Resignation is that employees feel stuck in their current roles or that the advancement process is too inconsistent. The pandemic broke down geographic constraints on many roles and remote opportunities abound. With more jobs open, it’s easy for talented employees to find a better offer and pay at another company.

This also represents an opportunity for organizations to espouse values about internal advancement and make it a cultural norm. The once-a-year, veiled promotion cycle won’t suffice when workers can command higher pay and better benefits. The old mantra that you can’t promote within a year is no longer relevant.

If an employee is excelling, companies shouldn’t be shy to advance them even outside of formal review cycles. Support a flexible work environment. Despite efforts of industry leaders like Elon Musk, who recently ordered most Tesla employees back to in-office work, remote work is here to stay.

Companies can invest in the amenities of their offices as much as they’d like, but recruiting talent will require accommodating the needs of a generation of incoming employees accustomed to attending classes and meetings via video. This influx of remote-first talent, combined with employees who’ve seen their satisfaction increase while working at home during the pandemic, should be a clear sign to employers. Of course, not every team at every company can be remote, nor should it be a mandatory option for those who thrive in an office environment.

Rather, cultivating a policy that allows employees, when they’re able, to pick where they’d like to work is a more cohesive path to success. Flexible work can also introduce unprecedented logistical challenges to an organization of any size, even if it’s the best decision for employees. But a willingness to try new things is what separates good companies from great ones.

Although flexible work may not work for all departments, leaders must be deliberate in their practices and continuously have a strong grasp of the different needs. A Great Reckoning Survey after survey points to an increased appetite to change jobs—maybe as a result of pent-up unease after a two-year pandemic—or because remote work has toppled longstanding expectations of where people work. This is the time for leaders to assess their culture and how they can be established during those critical first months on the job.

From there, throwing out the traditional playbooks and being transparent about career growth can go a long way in fostering strong connections with employees. With the data and trendlines seeming to work against us, it’s the companies and leaders who find a footing in this shifting landscape and those who focus first on culture who will win out in this new war for talent. Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives.

Do I qualify? Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn . Check out my website . Daniel Schiappa Editorial Standards Print Reprints & Permissions.