Much has been said, written and discussed about “The Great Resignation” that is currently taking place. As the pandemic recedes (fingers crossed) people are leaving their jobs in search of more money, more flexibility and more happiness. Many are rethinking what work means to them, how they are valued, and how they spend their time. It's leading to a dramatic increase in resignations — according to the US Labor Department, a record 4 million people quit their jobs in the US in April alone.
Trends like this have a variety of root causes and many can be addressed by organizations. For example, the time many of us spent on a commute pre-pandemic seemed quite normal back then, but did we love it? Probably not. Companies that offer flexible schedules and hybrid work options will be more able to entice their employees back into the office a few days a week. And that will help for those who found that they were “stuck on the hamster wheel” as well. Some woke up to a job that was suddenly a work-from-home-job and discovered that they were strangers in their own home. They had become too focused on their professional life and their personal life had suffered. Many of these professionals do not want to go back to the “good ole days” of life as it was before the pandemic. Many are looking for a new normal that is more family friendly and allows them to have a life outside of work. In the US still others want better pay for their front line jobs and maybe even healthcare. The US is a society that is not kind to the uninsured or the under-insured.
However, I think one of the biggest reasons for the “Great Resignation” is a reason that is very difficult to for organizations to address. In this sense, I think the message that organizations should take from “The Great Resignation” is that 4 million people in the US in April of 2021 basically said “give us purpose and meaning in our work or watch us look for it elsewhere”. I see the organizations that are struggling to hire and those that are not. From what I am hearing from my clients, a lot of people have hit reset and are in the process of reassessing…. People want to work. But they want to do work that matters; people want more meaning. Because if we learned something from working from home, it is that time in the office is time we could be spending with our loved ones. So, make my time in the office and the work I do worth giving up time with my family.
I have been preaching about purpose and values at work for years. I consistently post articles and reports on how important it is. Some organizations take this to heart. They have worked on their purpose and their values and they live by them. They give deep meaning to the work that gets done there. Other organizations have done superficial work on purpose and values and do not live by either. These organizations do not give deep meaning to the work that gets done there. They think people do not notice, but they do. Additionally, it becomes extremely obvious during a pandemic who really lives by their values and who does not. The way some organizations treated their employees during the pandemic, especially vulnerable employees, reminds me of the children’s story, The Emperor’s New Clothes. The pandemic is the innocent girl that points out that the emperor is naked. Many people who believed in the purpose and values of the organizations they worked for suddenly saw that the emperor was naked. They saw that they valued the purpose and values of the organization more than the company itself did and they felt disappointed. But also duped, and nobody likes to be taken for a fool.
So, to those organizations who have been affected by the great resignation, do you offer your employees a living wage, healthcare and meaning and purpose in their work? Or do you strut around like the emperor warping yourself in your empty values, claiming to put people first when that is obviously not the case? Think of the mark you make on your employees and on the wider community.
I could be wrong, but I feel like the “Great Resignation” has only just begun. So I challenge all organizations to take a hard look at themselves and give people purpose and meaning in their work or watch them look for it elsewhere.