Adele and The Great Resignation
Rumour has it “The Great Resignation” is upon us. It’s a hot topic in our virtual office — as is Adele’s new album, Oprah interview, and touching concert moments. That made us think about her words, the turning tables of the talent market, and how leaders can realise opportunity on the other side.
Earlier this year, Microsoft’s Work Trend Index told us more than 40% of the global workforce was considering leaving their jobs, manifesting into “The Great Resignation” or “The Great Reshuffle” — “TGR” nonetheless.
Managers all over the world, already exhausted, are now in the thick of TGR. At a minimum, they’ve started to see the effects of talent having more power and candidates seeking genuine flexibility, balance, connection, and meaning.
Not every manager is capable of influencing hybrid working policies and office technology. However, every manager is a leader — able to influence the authenticity and experience that people are looking for.
Never mind, I’ll find someone like you
A resignation from your team shouldn’t be a bad breakup. Healthy handling of resignations is more important now than ever.
If you are looking for new talent, the last thing you need is a bad online review, negative word-of-mouth, or a team that is cautious to refer friends. The consequences of these can be invisible, widespread, and bad for business — much like a virus we all know.
High-performing or not, treat every person leaving like a customer or alumni. Make it your personal goal to lead a smooth transition and take action based on exit interviews. If there is reshuffling in the future, you may encounter or need those alumni again, and the remaining team can see that you are genuinely invested in being different.
Hello from the outside
TGR also gives you the opportunity to think differently. It isn’t likely you will find someone like the employee that left, but now you can try to find someone that will add to your team, not just fit in.
This is your chance to dust off those assessments of team talent and personalities to figure out what qualities would complement the team and get you all to higher performance. Once you have looked inward to what you really need, it is time to look out and get creative.
Build capability and attract those looking for more meaning in their work by redesigning jobs to be more accountable for coaching versus simply “doing.” If it is still a role for a doer, find out what purpose-driven company initiatives you could offer candidates for meaningful activity. Think about short-term contracts with incentivised outcomes to attract those who want a challenge.
Consider proactively sourcing talent whose needs you are more readily able to meet. These are the people on the fringes of TGR who want more chances and stability, including Baby Boomers, interns, and those with disabilities.
Where you or the organisation’s Employee Value Proposition can’t compete, break the process. Make more time for personal connections with candidates, involve advocates from your team in end-to-end recruitment, find true stories of how organisational values have come to life, and discuss with candidates how you can grow and adapt together.
Go easy on me
There was power in the “post the ad and they will come” days. Today managers are selling not only a role, but also the organisational purpose, team, culture, and themselves as leaders. Selling needs to be embedded into the onboarding experience and managers need to prepare for the inevitable “Great Probation.”
Microsoft and LinkedIn’s insights tell us that the pandemic made work more human. People crave authenticity, especially when they are inviting work into their homes. The first few months of any job are full of micro-judgments, making it more crucial for leaders to drive authenticity. Reframe the new hire ideal of “hit the ground running” to a team relay by co-creating the new hire’s 90-day plan as a collective, and position successful probation as a team win.
If you have hired for diversity of thought or experience, give it room to thrive. Reset culture and expectations with the wider team to “reform, storm and norm” even if it feels repetitive. Facilitate strengths-based conversations that allow people to quickly move from justifying why they are here to how they can help each other.
More waves of TGR will come, requiring the evolution of talent strategy from the 4Bs (build, buy, borrow, and bot) to 7Bs (build, buy, borrow, bot, bind, boost and bounce). You could proactively “bounce” underperformers with a positive offboarding experience, and “boost” or “bind” talent you can’t afford to lose so they don’t join the 40% contemplating the “outside.”
Then, hopefully, TGR can simply be water under the bridge.
Slalom is a global consulting firm focused on strategy, technology and business transformation. Learn more and reach out today.
