They go and they come

In April I moderated a panel discussion about the ‘great resignation’ which is an American term used to describe the big increase in resignations in the USA since the Covid19 pandemic. The panel represented external and internal recruitment people and talent managers[1], and around 70 people joined the Zoom meeting. Our discussion centred on whether NZ organisations were seeing an increase in numbers, what they thought was driving it, and what they were doing to prevent or manage it.

In short, some organisations were experiencing an increase in resignations, and some weren’t - yet! The panel and people in the meeting were expecting an escalation as borders opened and people started travelling overseas for extended holidays or for work. People also anticipated a lag between NZ residents leaving and immigration. All agreed that, with a 3% unemployment, it was hard to fill empty or new roles.

The panel and attendees were experiencing some churn in front-line roles, moderate turnover of professional specialists and, at that point, fewer middle management resignations.  Front line churn has been experienced in the USA too as people moved to better paying roles. While organisations may bemoan this, I agree with Derek Thompson in The Atlantic who argues that we should see this as the Big Switch, and lower paid workers moving to better paying jobs should be celebrated for them personally, as well as for society as a whole because we all benefit from people having more money to live.

In the US resignations also tended to come from remote workers and the reasons given were that they felt unconnected to the workplace or that they were reluctant to return to the office, especially full time, after working from home during the heights of the Covid pandemic. This has led to another phrase being coined, - the great resistance. We polled the people in the call about where the resignations were coming from and, at that stage, not one person identified remote workers, or workers being asked to return to the office, as an at-risk group.  It may be worth keeping an eye on this group in your organisation and thinking about what hybrid solutions you can offer.

Another term you may hear is the great reflection. Over the last two years many people have reflected on what they want from their work and for their life and this reflection has led some to resign. Interestingly in the US reflection has led to an increase in resignations in older employees and, as Thompson points out, for many this isn’t resignation, but retirement.  As he says, when older people stop working, we don’t throw a resignation party for them but a retirement party, and we acknowledge and celebrate their career. In a poll of people at the meeting very few noticed an increase in resignations of older employees. However, this may also be a group to think about and to consider how you can still engage them in your workplaces.

If there is a great resignation in your company now or in the future, then presumably there is also a great hire meaning there will be more new employees than usual. Given the shortage of talent in the market it is more important than ever to onboard new hires in a way that means they stay, and are happy, contributing, and succeeding. Did you know:

• 2 out of 5 new managers miss some of their first year’s performance objectives
• Leaders who manage the transition into a new job well will reduce by 50% the time it takes them to be fully productive by 50%.
• Leaders who manage their onboarding well are 15% more productive at six and nine months than those who aren’t so deliberate in their transition?

Focus your onboarding efforts on the 7Cs of onboarding: Compliance, Clarity, Connection, Capability, Culture, Claiming the role, and for leaders, a Collective team win. You may also want to check out our blogs and resources to help give you other ideas for successfully transitioning new people into your organisation.

 

[1] The panel was for the Industrial & Organisational Psychologist Special Interest Group in conjunction with the Human Resources Institute of New Zealand. Panellists were: Juliet Casey, Talent Acquisition Manager, Fonterra; Jon Later, Head of Talent Acquisition and Management, NZ Post; Lucy McLernon, Regional Manager, H2R Consulting; and Ian Scott, GM Talent Solutions, Randstad New Zealand.

 

Image credit: Cytonn photography, Unsplash