Jaimie Green, Human Resources executive at lulafit.
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Talk about the Great Resignation has been all the rage in the last couple of months. You couldn’t avoid discussing this topic, as most business leaders focused on curbing this phenomenon and retaining their employees.
Naturally, employers will want to keep top talents in the company. But if the conversation continuously goes in the same direction—how to stop people from leaving, years could pass before the corporate world moves the needle.
If the goal is to ensure employees are happy with their jobs and don’t want to quit, why aren’t enough employers discussing how to create workplaces where workers want to stay? After all, no amount of peer pressure, pandemic desperation or external influence would force people to resign from a job that meets their needs and goals.
Indeed, people have higher expectations and demands. Companies shouldn’t be running from these standards and hoping employees will revert to the pre-pandemic conditions.
Instead, employers should acknowledge their wants and needs. Only that way can companies reinvent the employer value proposition (EVP) and turn the Great Resignation into the Great Reflection.
What is the Great Reflection?
The Great Resignation is real, and its name describes well what it means—people are resigning from their jobs in a higher number than ever. Over 4.27 million Americans left their jobs in May 2022, and around 58% of Europeans are considering quitting by the end of the year.
Unsurprisingly, that’s alarming to the corporate world. Employees, including top talents, are delivering their resignation letters and looking for better opportunities.
But most employers still focus on short-term reactionary tactics to address the Big Quit than understanding what lies at its core. Even though this phenomenon is becoming a lasting systemic truth, most conversations are about how this impacts employers and how to stop it. Instead of understanding the cause, many companies are trying to find a cure for the symptom. But can we ever heal an illness long-term if we don’t know its origin?
That isn’t to say the Great Resignation is a disease. Instead, it might be a positive change. It’s a part of a higher transformation encouraging people to question their future paths, decisions and objectives. That’s why the Great Reflection is a more appropriate name for this phenomenon that intertwines with the larger human story we’ve lived since the pandemic started.
People are reflecting on their lives and wondering whether there’s more to it.
Profit is among the driving forces of capitalism and often stimulates overwhelming competition. The pandemic exposed many flaws of capitalism and showed that many employees were left behind while large companies kept accumulating a fortune.
That, in combination with longer working hours, ongoing fear and existential crisis, has forced people to ask themselves whether they deserve more. Although death is the endgame for every human, the past few years continuously reminded us of our mortality. Why would people spend that limited time on low-paying jobs, disrespectful employers and dissatisfying work conditions?
Many companies may want to disregard these sentiments or hope people will get over them eventually. Others might wonder why they must endure the aftermath of employees’ Great Reflection. But regardless of how employers feel about it, there’s no going back, and ignoring it is not a solution.
According to Gartner, 65% of employees are rethinking the place their work should have in their lives. Another 52% started questioning the purpose of their day-to-day jobs, while 50% changed their expectations toward their employer. Many people also discovered they yearn for a change in their lives, have a different perspective on ideal workplace location and want to contribute more to society.
That means the Great Reflection might lead to a more human-centric and empathetic world.
But everyone must participate in this change for it to work, including employers. They must start by understanding things are transforming because the foundations weren’t equal for both parties.
Employees have the right to ask for fairer opportunities, more flexibility and better well-being protections. It’s time for companies to recognize this as a positive workforce evolution and adapt their EVP to the future of work.
We must adapt our EVP to the future of work.
The pandemic was the beginning of a significant transition. Humans, and not only employees but also customers, clients and stakeholders, are asking themselves what makes them happy and whether they’ve been giving too much but getting much less in return.
This has been a period that elevated people’s values, visions and personal purpose. That encouraged them to voice their expectations and leave their companies if unhappy. Moreover, these changes coincide with the future of work, the projection of how people will work in the years ahead.
New job occupations will arise, and the workforce will be more diverse than ever. Inclusion, equity and a compassionate approach will play a central role in the labor landscape.
That creates a need for a more human and authentic EVP. The era of merely providing financial compensation in exchange for employees’ work and services is behind us. People also want their employers to recognize their unique human value and provide something more than a place to work and earn money. Employers should determine how their companies make a difference in society and make other people’s lives better.
They want to work with companies that enjoy building connections and thriving communities. People also want to feel a higher sense of purpose and to know how their work contributes to society.
The Great Reflection is about more than offering generous wellness packages, reasonable work hours and flexibility, as these should be the elementary work conditions. Instead, it’s about reinventing the EVP and understanding where employees are coming from.
The future of work is about creating more human-centric workplaces and the EVP that genuinely benefits employees. It is also about giving more control to the people to manage their working hours, work environments and job assignments.
Ultimately, the post-pandemic world should be about making jobs more purpose-driven, listening to employees’ needs and establishing work conditions that make it easy for them to love their jobs.
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