“The Big Resignation” Cure: A Happier Workforce with Empathy
By: Amy J. Wilson and Jimena Luna
More than any other time in recent history, American workers are leaving the workforce in record numbers, and the reasons why might surprise you.
Approximately four million Americans, about 2.7 percent of the workforce, have quit their jobs each month since April 2021. One third of Americans are planning to quit their jobs and eighty percent are planning to leave within the next six months. This trend has been called “The Big Resignation.”
What’s Happening in the United States?
During the pandemic, Americans spent more time reflecting on what’s important to them and as a result, we’re rethinking our relationship with work. Irina Ivanova, a Data Reporter from CBS Moneywatch, observed that burnout and the desire to take time for ourselves was a reason why many are leaving their jobs. There are three main reasons why people are leaving in droves, says Ivanova: better conditions, better pay, and/or better working hours. In the end, people are looking to find “a new job that feels less abusive.”
In early 2020, Kevin Shah was working as a director at a leading public safety technology company in Seattle, Washington. His leadership, while well-intentioned, was verbally abusive and toxic, masked under direct orders and false positivity. Shah’s long-term physical and mental health was in jeopardy: he barely slept and became depressed and anxious. He was experiencing burnout. He walked away from $15 million in compensation and is now the Co-Founder/CEO of Jaago, a web app that makes empathy and learning a daily habit.
Burnout, a state of emotional and physical exhaustion, is brought on by long periods of stress, and can result in anger, headaches, sleeplessness, anxiety, and depression. A survey of 1,500 U.S. workers by the job aggregator site Indeed found that employee burnout has only gotten worse over the last year: more than half (52 percent) of respondents are feeling burned out, and more than two-thirds (67 percent) believe the feeling has worsened over the course of the pandemic. Those who work virtually are more likely to say burnout has worsened over the course of the pandemic (38 percent).
Power to Workers with 10 Million Job Openings
While many are leaving their jobs, they are met with a booming labor market and the Delta variant. American workers hold the power to find more attractive job opportunities and higher pay. According to Indeed, job seekers find a robust labor market with a record 9.8 million job vacancies as of mid-July compared with 8.7 million unemployed. The latest Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows 6.7 million new hires at the end of June.
A strong hiring demand benefits workers in both highly skilled and low skilled occupations. As employers struggle with scarcity of labor, workers have extra negotiating power and leverage to find a better job fit and work situation. They can choose workplaces that foster a culture of empathy and continuous learning, coupled with rewarding career paths and inclusivity. This economic recovery is a chance to address structural challenges that favor the highly skilled and for employers and employees alike to invest in upskilling and reskilling.
Workplace culture makes a big impact on job satisfaction, and those that promote empathy are likely to satisfy and maintain employees. A 2019 State of Workplace Empathy Report by the platform Businessolver found 85 percent of U.S. employees surveyed agreed empathy was undervalued by their employer. “No matter the societal pressures or changes, some things remain constant: the need for employers to find new ways to attract, engage, and retain employees and the need for employees to feel heard, understood, and valued by their employers,” says this report.
Ways to Shift Culture
Leadership can use these five ways to evolve empathy, which aids in job retention and increases productivity growth making the overall economy more robust. Employees are happier, more loyal, and able to bounce back more quickly from setbacks:
- Set empathetic policies and practices: Leadership (at any level) can add empathy as a core value to set the right tone and expectation for the culture.
- Recruit for empathy: Screen for new candidates who are empathetic and humble when hiring, the fastest way to maximize empathy at work.
- Improve benefits: Understand what employees value: mental health benefits, an open-door policy, location and schedule flexibility are desirable.
- Educate the workforce: Train employees and managers on empathy and help them put it into practice every day in their work. This can include building self-awareness and emotional intelligence, and personal development strategies.
- Diversify leadership: Diversity (race, gender, disability [visible and hidden], age, sexual orientation) results in a more empathetic company and more innovative changes.
It’s more important than ever to prioritize working conditions that take care of individuals over the bottom line. Developing empathy in the workplace takes specific intention — and attention over time.
It’s a curious paradox that it took a pandemic for Americans to leave their jobs, yet we could see it coming due to the growing empathy deficit. Often, we put blinders on when it comes to work, but this past year has been a wake-up call to create an inclusive and empathetic workplace. We can’t let this opportunity go to waste as we create the future of work. “The Big Resignation” is just the beginning of a much needed shift in the labor market towards better jobs and a happier workforce steeped in empathy.
Amy J. Wilson is the Author of Empathy for Change: How to Create a More Understanding World, and the Founder and CEO of the Empathy for Change Collaborative: a cadre of leaders across multiple sectors creating approaches to tackle our empathy deficit. Follow her on LinkedIn, Twitter, or Medium, or learn more about her here.
Jimena Luna is the Vice President of Customer Integration at JANZZ.technology, a Swiss company specialized in AI-powered digital solutions mastering complex occupation data for intelligent job matching in the public sector and HR tech globally. Follow her on LinkedIn, Twitter, or Medium, and learn more about JANZZ here.
