How to deal with ‘The Great Resignation’ when you are a manager

HR executives and hiring managers are dealing with one of the most daunting periods of mass resignation in their careers. Companies are worried about maintaining the minimum talent required to keep the doors open and are throwing just about everything to stop the quitting.

More money and a free Peleton account may not be the only answer. There is a better way, according to Jenn Lim, co-founder and CEO of business consulting and coaching business Delivering Happiness and author of Beyond Happiness. “There’s beauty in The Great Resignation,” she adds.

Understand the sacrifices your team makes

The last two years have brought many issues to the forefront of people’s minds, and not just the pandemic and its acceleration of the future of work. Lim explains how that affects our careers.

“We’ve had so much time, one and half years, to reflect and answer and act upon existential questions like: What am I here for? What am I doing? Is this worth it? Why am I feeling isolated or alone? All of these questions are being answered in more transparent and honest ways.”

The Great Resignation is the result of all this existential angst. People are finally admitting to themselves that they aren’t sure why they landed in a specific career or at this one company. The money, status, and challenge may not be worth the sacrifices anymore, like commuting into an office, putting up with a toxic culture, or dealing with the issues/politics that plague some companies. Instead, people are leaving to explore how they can pursue a career that is more meaningful to them.

Find out what motivates each worker

Companies are offering incentives just to fill seats. Many companies, across industries, are paying people simply to show up to interviews. Employees have the power right now because there are talent shortages.

Karen Calder, an Organizational Culture and Change Consultant shares how some companies are working, at this moment, to retain their top players. One strategy has been to recognize and reward talent for sticking it out through the pandemic and for still delivering despite all the challenges. Calder shares how one company kept a key player:

“Send them recognition and show them the money. After all, they kept things going during the pandemic and furloughs. One specific company decided they needed to retain three top performers during the pandemic. They have a recognition program and everyone from their CEO down sent recognition notes for exceeding sales targets. They even gave out an early bonus. Those three employees are loving it and say the extra hours and stress was worth it.”

What about the other average, steady performers that may be at risk for exiting? Calder gives four actions management can take to keep them happy in the short term too:

1. Recognize them!
3. Offer a hybrid work arrangement
5. Discuss their career progression with them
6. Talk to them, listen, and find out what motivates them

Hardlining will get some people back into the office…

Some organizations are taking a firm stance, and forcing employees back into the office, whether they like it or not. JPMorgan’s CEO Jamie Dimon expected all workers back by the end of last month. Dimon believes that company culture, professional development, and fast decision-making all take a hit when people work from home and over Zoom.

Lim had an interesting perspective on this hardline approach. “Hardlining is really a gift because it gets really clear if people are aligned with company values.” When asked if this approach would make the mass exodus worse, she said, “Yes, it would, but there’s power in that because people are finally leaving and there is a lot to learn from that.”

Lim thinks that JPMorgan’s stance is quickly getting to the crux of the disconnect that led to the mass exodus in the first place. If people don’t agree with their model of work, then now’s the time to go. Things will likely be hard for managers in the short term, but there’s no time like the present to adjust policies and hiring methodologies to prevent this type of event in the future.

… Listening to workers will win over the rest

Managers and leaders need to think about why all these people are leaving. Knowing that there are droves of people not being productive or burning out, requires some empathy on the part of management.

A growth mindset is key here. While the end result is losing talent, there is much to learn. Having open and honest conversations with those team members who are exiting is the starting point. Lim explains how this translates into building better teams.

“Managers can embrace a growth mindset and ask what it is that makes people want to leave. First, be a good listener, and then use that information towards what you need to hire for next. When you start these conversations, it’s not about the company’s values and purpose. It’s about that person’s values and purpose. When you start having these simple but deep conversations you start to see a shift and you can identify whether they’re aligned or not aligned to the team you’re building or the company they’re working for.”

Just as Calder mentioned about understanding what motivates individual employees through conversations, Lim refers to the intrinsic motivators of employees, and why it’s important to know those details.

“Managers need to look at hiring people not just for the skills they have but the person they are, which is where purpose and values come into play. Because a bonus, raise, or promotion may be good in the near term and it could be helpful now, but it’s not about the extrinsic stuff that keeps people around through a pandemic and over the long run, it’s the intrinsic stuff.”

Lim describes a model of leadership that starts from one’s self and radiates outward. She refers to it as “tending your own greenhouse” first. What that means is getting to know what makes you tick before you ask your employees to share their values and purpose. Being open and vulnerable about your own situation with your team, while expecting the same level of transparency from them, is the key to developing truly lasting teams.

And if people have already left, well, that gives a better foundation and framework for how to build the next team. “People are naturally more loyal to their team when they are treated like a human being,” she says, “and when their issues and struggles can be freely discussed.”