What lessons can we learn from the Great Resignation?
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In November 2021, a survey conducted by recruitment firm Randstadt UK revealed that a quarter of all salaried workers in Britain – some 8 million people, depending on what source you use – planned to leave their jobs within 12 months.
Most intended to explore their career options with another employer.
Others, motivated by a reluctance to return to the work-life imbalance that lockdown and remote working had revealed, were plotting to use existing or new-found interests to liberate their inner entrepreneur and start their own businesses – a record 5.4 million new businesses were launched last year.
And then there were those who suddenly realised that the leap to retirement wasn’t perhaps as great as it had once seemed and began to plan in earnest for life beyond the workplace.
This anticipated mass exodus has been termed the Great Resignation or, in the case of would-be retirees, the Great Retirement. But whatever name we give it, it has serious implications not just for businesses but also for the labour market as a whole.
And at the forefront of the aftermath will be harried and harassed HR teams who will suddenly be faced with either negotiating exits on terms that are at least moderately favourable to the employer, or developing talent acquisition strategies that have at least some chance of replacing the ‘brain drain’ that will be the result of skilled and knowledgeable workers leaving.
So, what lessons can we learn as we prepare for a new chapter labour movement that is expected to be like no other seen in the relatively recent past.
1. This isn’t a Millennial thing
Over the months since the various pieces of market research revealed the impending Great Resignation (Randstadt’s wasn’t the only one) there has been a prevailing belief that those who may be considering leaving their posts are mainly made up of Gen Z Millennials – a demographic that is traditionally more mobile within the labour market anyway.
This, as I’ve indicated above, simply isn’t true.
The anticipated swell of movement is spread across the generations and at significant levels. Lockdown and virtual working has had a sobering impact on a great many people who, before March 2020, might otherwise have been quite happy to plod on along their chosen career path.
What the last two years has proved is that many businesses can be as profitable when run from the kitchen table as they are from a glass-fronted office in the West End of London.
2. Flexibility will be a dealbreaker for many
We already know that the so-called ‘hybrid’ working model – a week split between being home-based and office-based – is here to stay.
Where HR teams spent 2020 developing and implementing policies designed to safeguard the health and wellbeing of staff, 2021 became the year of HR trying to conquer the challenge of keeping businesses connected in a dislocated world.
But many workers have simply decided that going back to the office is not an option for them.
This is more common among those facing longer commutes, where two years of not waiting on cold and windy platforms for the privilege of having to stand on a late and overcrowded train has given then pause to reassess their priorities.
Businesses that resolutely cling to what are now perceived as ‘old-style’ working practices are likely to find talent retention far more challenging than those that offer truly flexible working.
In some cases, where the operational efficiency of an organisation isn’t dependant on office-based working, this may require business leaders to make difficult choices between their preferred working practices and the risk of losing valuable people.
3. It will be expensive
Whichever way you slice it, recruiting people is always a cost game. The scale of that game is now likely to increase, and with it will come greater than average costs as businesses attempt to replace key talent with comparably skilled candidates.
In a market where demand outstrips supply – which is almost always the case when it comes to attracting the brightest and the best – these costs are not simply limited to the cost of running the recruitment campaign itself.
It will also mean that business leaders are likely to be forced to review their salary structure and staff benefits in order to make their organisations destination points for the candidates best placed to deliver results quickly.
4. Culture will be a differentiator
Salary and flexibility will be key in managing the impact of the Great Resignation – but they are not, on their own, enough.
Organisational culture may well prove to be the trump card, for two reasons.
First, those people considering new ventures or new pastures are generally doing so because they have become disillusioned with the places they are working at right now. Generally speaking, employees who are invested in their employers and happy in their roles don’t leave easily.
Second, HR teams can’t be expected to manage and solve staff turnover problems on their own. A recruitment campaign is only as good as the value proposition it’s built on – and that’s not just about job titles, salary and benefits.
If businesses are to turn the challenges of the Great Resignation to their advantage, they will need to invest time and money in creating a value proposition that transcends the remunerative factors involved in attracting the right people.
That means making organisational culture a priority – and doing it quickly.
If you’d like to find out more about how Constantia Consulting can help you or your HR team to build a compelling value proposition for your business, please get in touch for an informal chat.
