Founder & CEO of Reverb. Author of Female Firebrands: Stories and Techniques to Ignite Change, Take Control, and Succeed in the Workplace.
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With the mounting pressures and uncertainty surrounding the past year and a half, it's no wonder that more people than ever are rethinking their life's purpose. For many, that means redefining work-life balance while considering different options for the future. According to NPR, “people are leaving their jobs in search of more money, more flexibility and more happiness.”
Employers are nervous as millions have already left their jobs, and it's not just retention that’s at stake. By some estimates, there are nearly 11 million open jobs in the United States that need to be filled. So how can your organization become more proactive, improving retention while also attracting people who have their pick of roles? Savvy employers are viewing the Great Resignation as a time to redefine what they can offer. They're listening to employees and restructuring work to meet their needs.
Hybrid And Asynchronous Work
There are introverts who have gotten extremely comfortable working from home and extroverts who wish they were back in the office surrounded by their colleagues. But if you poll people, you'll quickly learn that the majority want a hybrid model where they can choose which days, and how many days, to stay home versus commute. Working parents in particular benefit from asynchronous meetings, or well-planned meeting-free times, that allow them to do childcare drop-off and pick-up based on their kids’ schedules rather than the schedules of their co-workers. Hybrid work policies are not hard to establish and have tremendous payoff.
Location, Location, Location
People who have the opportunity truly want their employers to embrace the “work from anywhere” option. For some, that might mean moving across the United States, traveling periodically or moving to Costa Rica (or another “work from paradise” location). While not every job can be location-agnostic, remote work has proven that location is often less important than good WiFi and strong relationships between team members. Even before the pandemic, one of my senior staff members spent a winter in Bali and another visited family while working from the opposite coast for several weeks. This kind of geographic flexibility not only increases commitment, but it also makes it easier for people to integrate work with their personal goals.
Purpose And Passion
You may not think you can create a mission-driven environment if that’s something people find lacking in your organization. But too often, employers do have a strong mission — they just fail to communicate it well. If you want to help people get behind your mission, start by making sure senior leaders are on the same page. Then develop a communications plan, including stories and examples, to remind people that their work makes a difference. Find ways to tie every department’s goals to the overall purpose of your work. Remember that repetition is key, so you’ll need to speak passionately about your mission frequently in order for it to stick.
I’ll admit that if you have not been leaning into hybrid and remote work and haven't yet formally increased flexibility on your team, some of these suggestions may feel intimidating. If in the past your pay and benefits were enough to entice and retain the people you needed, these changes might well push you out of your comfort zone. But if you do nothing, you too are going to fall victim to the Great Resignation. So ask yourself — do you want to be the employer people are fleeing from or to as we head into 2022?
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