Decoding the trend of the great resignation

22 Feb 2022 , 09:24 AM

The burnout resulting from our quarantined state of living post the pandemic has driven people to seek better career prospects, professional growth, and a favorable work-life balance. An enmasse exodus that entails employees actively switching jobs has resulted in what is commonly referred to today as ‘The Great Resignation'.

According to a recent study, nearly 60 percent of the professionals who switched jobs in the last year pointed to the lack of growth and development opportunities as the presiding factor in their decision-making process, taking precedence over otherwise standard criteria such as better compensation.

Working professionals are now not only reconsidering 'what' they wish to work on but are also focusing on the 'where' and 'why'. Hence, it is paramount for organizations to look inwards to assess and chalk out effective measures to establish themselves as a highly-sought-after employer. Additionally, Human Resource leaders of all organizations must reflect on their respective work cultures and champion a sentiment of improvisation across multiple departments to kickstart 'The Big Bounce back'.

Here are a few ideas that organizations can implement to maximize the positive effects that could come with the Big Bounce back:

Encouraging Open Communication Channels:
Effective communication and trust are the cornerstones of a successful business. Open communication channels empower your employees to exhibit greater engagement and realize the extent of their contributions towards the organization's success. Frequently connecting with your employees about their professional and personal goals will help create an environment driven by transparency and accountability for both management and personnel.

Retention of Highly Engaged Employees:
The retention of a motivated and well-trained employee is essential for any organization's success. A high annual employee turnover rate significantly increases expenses while negatively impacting the workforce's morale. Introducing and implementing an employee retention program effectively ensures the continued employment of crucial workforce members, allowing companies to maintain healthy productivity and performance levels in a sustainable manner.

Incorporating HR Analytics:
HR analytics allows HR teams to efficiently identify and decipher the patterns and causes of employee attrition. It gives you in-depth insights into why employees opt to leave or stay within the organization. The reasons could range from underperformance, lack of skill development opportunities, overworking, and low compensation, to management bottlenecks and unfavorable work environments, among others.
Understanding the precise reason why your employees leave the company sooner than expected will help you immensely in tying up loose ends, while maintaining a solid connection over a sustained period. HR analytics also allows you to discover problem areas where employees face difficulties accomplishing goals and meeting targets. HR leaders can leverage employee surveys, team assessments, and exit/stay interviews to ascertain the causes for attrition within the workforce and map out effective strategies to retain them.

The Way Forward:
Pioneering organizations have already moved on to hybrid or remote-working models, with an ever-increasing number of employees looking for flexible working styles. Moreover, hiring models have also witnessed monumental changes, with entire hiring processes migrating to virtual recruitment forms.

Businesses must lead their employees into the future with trust, establish clear work-life boundaries, set up detailed guidelines on how to treat hybrid or remotely working employees, and adapt to result and impact-oriented approaches, rather than holding onto obsolete success metrics.

For organizations, the future of work seems to be effort-centric and predicated around establishing improved standards that endorse work-life harmony. Even if the 'Great Resignation' lingers on, the cultural subtleties for employee engagement must not stop evolving. Businesses can get through this phase with a leap of faith, in which the path that leads to the leap dictates the extent of its success.

The author of this article is Mr. Manoj Nair, Head of India GDC, Fujitsu Consulting India

The views and opinions expressed are not of IIFL Securities, indiainfoline.com