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“The Greatest Resignation” Means We Need to Start Thinking Differently About the Workforce

Business LeadershipTalent by Christopher J. Dwyer on

“Find joy in everything you choose to do. Every job, relationship, home… it’s your responsibility to love it, or change it.” – Chuck Palahniuk, Best-Selling Author

For months now, “The Great Resignation” has been dominating headlines, thought leadership, workforce news, and all of the appropriate responses to the transformation of talent and work. By now, we know the stakes: millions of workers are voluntarily leaving their jobs for a variety of reasons, all of which prove that there’s more to life (and work!) than just cold, hard cash.

The Future of Work Exchange has been covering this topic for months, encouraging business leaders to think about The Great Resignation from a different perspective, that of a “Talent Revolution.” So it goes, the foundational elements of what’s also being called “The Big Quit” revolve around the concepts of purpose, career journeys, and alignment between a human and his/her/their work. Too, aspects like better working conditions, inclusive workplace culture, and, yes, of course, compensation, are all driving factors of the revolution happening right in front of us.

So, given all of this, when does The Great Resignation end? Well, it seems we’re heading in the opposite direction. Let’s just call it The Greatest Resignation, because:

  • Last Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Labor announced that nearly 4.4 million Americans quit their jobs in February.
  • Better than January? Oh, gosh no. This was 100,000 more resignations than the U.S. experienced in January, and…
  • …it’s also perilously close to The Great Resignation’s prestigious world record, set with 4.5 million resignations in November 2021.

“Great” has become “Greatest” as this phenomenon marches on. We’re supposed to be living in a “let’s just deal with it” phase of the pandemic, so shouldn’t that mean all of those aspects of business disruption, including staffing shortages and massive resignations, start to curtail as we move towards our so-called “new normal”?

In an article on CNBC, Daniel Zhao, senior economist at Glassdoor, said that “These quits are still extremely high, and that shows the Great Resignation is still in full swing,” and that “It wouldn’t be a surprise to see that cool down in 2022,” Zhao said. “But that’s not to say we should expect the Great Resignation to disappear overnight.”

So, in essence, it’s a hiring purgatory, isn’t it? For now, it certainly seems like it. However, just perceiving all of this with a different mindset is the first, and most crucial, step in moving out of this unique period in business (and staffing) history.

Here’s the wake-up call: no matter the level of benefits nor the amount of compensation, a business cannot effectively fulfill a worker’s ultimate aspirations without purposeful and meaningful work. There must be a catalyst that drives that realm of joy within a professional’s heart and mind. The Great Resignation is not a fight over money, nor is it a sign that workers have become greedier and are asking for the moon.

This all simply means one thing: the pandemic has shaped our lives in such a way that the personal and professional dichotomy has become intertwined. Workers are people and people are workers. They want purpose. They want joy. They want to earn a living (a nice living) while doing something they love.

There’s a critical reason why we should be looking at The Greatest Resignation much differently. It’s not a war of attrition nor a battle for higher wages, but rather a revolution in which humans are doing everything they can to align their purpose, culture, and journey with the many, many hours they spend at work.

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Conscious Leadership Should Be a Future of Work Focus

Business Leadership by Christopher J. Dwyer on

In the earliest months of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a dearth of the one thing that every person thrives on that, unfortunately, we had taken for granted for far too long: human contact. Every video conference with older family members, every Friday afternoon virtual cocktail hour, the absence of fun evenings at the local sushi joint down the street…there was always that missing sense of human contact that nipped at the back of our minds as we experienced a crisis together.

While we are clearly out of the “emergency phase” of the biggest health crisis of our lifetime, with vaccines and immunity leading to a more “normal” way of life (barring another serious surge of cases), it doesn’t mean we should be abandoning the newfound focus on aspects such as empathy, compassion, and emotional-led thinking both in our personal and professional lives, however.

The Future of Work Exchange has long been a proponent of empathetic leadership and its many, many benefits. We even wrote about it last week and discussed why the Future of Work movement required more humanity within its innerworkings. It’s with this backdrop in mind that business leadership must continue to evolve; what the Future of Work needs today is conscious leadership.

Enterprise leaders in 2022 sit in a very, very different position than they did just a couple of years ago. And while the pandemic played a very critical role in how leadership has changed for the better, the fact is that the business arena would eventually experience this revolution of leadership simply because the workforce, the enterprise vision, and getting work done all now require a reimagined and strategic approach towards leadership.

“For years we’ve recognized that people’s dedication to their work has shifted: whether that be in time, energy, or emotion spent. People have the opportunity to reap so much from their careers, but only if the environments in which they work recognize and honor that and play an equal part in the relationship,” said Ashley Andersen, Leadership Coach and Partner at 10X Leadership Lab. “No longer are people just happy to have a job. They want and deserve more from their work- they want to use their work to create a positive impact and they want their work to in turn have a positive impact on them.”

The realm of conscious leadership follows a similar path to the one paved by empathy, in that nearly every facet of human contact between an executive and his or her colleagues and staff is rooted in a meaningful, genuine purpose. A leader’s core approaches involve them becoming more aware of their actions, more aware of how kind and, yes, conscious, those actions and insights may be perceived by the organization’s workforce.

Andersen and her 10X Leadership Lab team are focused on helping leaders become more conscious in their overall styles and approaches, augmenting leadership strategies with positive psychology and an emphasis on the fundamental behavioral change that is required for executives to reboot their approaches towards revolutionary leadership.

“At 10X Leadership Lab, we see leadership as a tremendous responsibility and, in that responsibility lies to the opportunity to have real impact – not just on the bottom line, but on the overall well-being of those around you and the systems you work within,” said Andersen. “Think about the last time you felt really heard, seen, understood, and valued at work – what was the impact of that? The leaders who show up in that way are the ones we’re willing to go the extra mile for, the ones we want to stick beside and learn from, the ones whose feedback really matters.”

One of the most critical aspects of conscious leadership is purpose (which we’ve written about recently). Workers desire work that has purpose, that is fulfilling, and aligns with their own specific journeys, goals, and life objectives. Leadership must change and evolve to suit this critical Future of Work tenet. Leadership must have the capability to be influential, purposeful, and deliberate in how it drives the overall vision of its staff, its product, its culture, and the greater organization.

“Everything begins with purpose at 10X, whether you are working with us in 1:1 coaching or at the systems level through our Thriving Culture work, because it’s the foundation that determines how we operate, the decisions we make, the attitudes we hold, the language we use,” said Andersen. “At 10X, our purpose is to make the world better by making business better. If we meet with a prospect who doesn’t share an interest in maximum impact beyond profit, we aren’t the right company for them and we politely part ways. It’s not always an easy decision to make, but it’s one that leaves us standing in integrity, which feels a whole lot different than the alternative. This work isn’t easy, that’s not what it’s about, but it’s always worthwhile. It’s what the Future of Work demands and deserves from us, and it’s what we are most passionate about.”

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The Future of Work Needs More Humanity

Business Leadership by Christopher J. Dwyer on

I remember speaking with a Fortune 500 executive sometime around April 2020 during those scary, early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. We chatted about her staff, the quick move to getting more of the workforce into remote environments, and the uncertain future ahead. What struck me most about the conversation, however, wasn’t the strategic approaches towards managing during uncertain times…it was her attitude.

“All I want my team to know is that I am here for them. The rest of the leadership team is also ready to support them as we go through this period together. Whatever they need from us, be it time with family, more flexibility…whatever struggles they may encounter, we will help them get through that.”

Some leaders are naturally gifted with empathy; those executives were the ones that successfully led their teams through the most tumultuous business period since The Great Recession of 2008-2009. Effective leadership over the past two years has involved shouldering a mental health load of numerous colleagues, when execs played the role of counselor and confidante to those workers that needed support. As times became better and as businesses moved more towards a “living with the virus” mentality, business leaders found that long-term empathy could be emotionally draining, considering that there were hundreds of other tasks and responsibilities that required their energy in an increasingly-globalized and complex enterprise landscape.

That doesn’t mean that empathy goes out the window, though. We’ve come too far to see a natural and beneficial by-product of the past two years lost in the newfound optimism that declining COVID caseloads and fewer restrictions brought about as of late. It does mean this, though: the Future of Work not only needs more humanity, it requires human-led tenets to underpin how work gets done.

The downside to empathetic leadership is that executives feel what their workers feel, and when too many instances of on-demand support pop up, these leaders risk burnout. A psychologist I spoke with told me this: “Experiencing empathy in the workplace is by far a positive development, however, just as we as ordinary people can become overwhelmed with a range of emotions by supporting others, this too can occur in the business arena. As leaders start to see their operations shift a little bit with encouraging conditions, they can still offer “modes” of empathetic support without it becoming a central focus of their overall leadership strategy.”

This is where the “human element” enters the picture. Today’s business leaders don’t have to wrap every one of their approaches in a sheen of empathy, they just need to integrate more humanity into how they manage and structure their workforce, as well as how the overall enterprise gets work done. This transformative strategy towards leadership requires a bit of “reimagination” and a dedication to emotions and being purposeful with those emotions.

The backdrop to The Great Resignation is a “Talent Revolution” in which millions of workers are voluntarily quitting their jobs due to the multi-faceted desire for more: more purpose, more career advancement, more work-life integration, and yes, more empathy and compassion. Leaders sit in an interesting position at this point in 2022; they have been drained of that empathy and are facing burnout along with their short-staffed workforce. The best strategy, after two years of balancing emotions and operations, is to understand that the wide spectrum of next-generation leadership begins with understanding the perspectives of workers, feeling what they feel, and using that knowledge to guide decisions and support.

What is needed now is an integration of humanity and work optimization, bringing together the emotional elements that define great leadership and an inclusive, positive workplace culture. Compassion and empathy are the cornerstones of the human-led elements of the Future of Work movement, and, if leaders can adapt to changing times and shift their thinking to include these attributes in how they manage, they will not only curb the negative ramifications of The Great Resignation, but will also ensure that their workforce remains engaged.

[Stay tuned to The Future of Work Exchange for additional coverage of the evolution of business leadership, including a feature next week that will discuss the impact of “conscious leadership.”]

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“The Great Resignation” is Not An Economic Trend

Talent by Christopher J. Dwyer on

Here’s a definition of “The Great Resignation” from old friend Wikipedia:

The Great Resignation, also known as the Big Quit, is an ongoing economic trend in which employees have voluntarily resigned from their jobs en masse, beginning in early 2021, primarily in the United States.

While I understand that Wikipedia is easily editable and can sometimes contain basic misinformation regarding history, politics, etc., what is represented in the above definition is unfortunately a common line of thinking in today’s frenetic world of business.

Even though aspects like “flexibility” and “remote work” are buried in that Wikipedia entry, the focus on economic thinking muddles The Great Resignation into a conversation around employees wanting more financial power as they traverse year three of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Remember, my friends, there’s a much clearer reason for this Big Quit, and it has little to do with money: it’s a “Talent Revolution,” and we’re all witnessing it first-hand as enterprises face staffing shortages, business leaders grapple with new models of working, and workers focus their energy on finding positions that bring value and purpose into their lives.

The Future of Work Exchange has been incredibly bullish about the Talent Revolution over the past few months, and rightfully so: placing the focus for tens of millions of voluntarily resignations squarely on economic factors misses the greater concept at hand…that the modern-day workforce has empowered themselves to transform the symbiotic links between “talent” and “employers,” all in the quest for more flexible, purposeful, and meaningful work.

Does The Great Resignation have economic consequences? Of course, let’s not kid ourselves. Staffing shortages are ravaging the financials of businesses, play a pivotal role in certain aspects of today’s inflation crisis, and, of course, contribute to product and supply chain disruptions across the world. (Also, as a side note: rising energy costs and fuel expenses are another complicated layer to the business arena today, as is the ongoing crisis in the Ukraine and its global financial and supply ramifications, as well.)

But these are consequences of a larger issue, one that has only been exacerbated by a global health crisis that has unfortunately shined a very, very bright light on the inequities and rigidity of today’s workplace and workforce structure. There is an underlying inequity in how workers are treated, how they are paid, how they are provided benefits, and how flexible their roles are considering the tremendous change in the world of talent and work over the last two years.

The Talent Revolution was always on its way; it’s unfortunate that it has resulted in an across-the-board, jarring “Big Quit” that has shaken the way businesses deal with extreme staffing shortages. However, there’s a reason equity, inclusion, better working conditions, and flexibility have become so critical: this is the power the workforce should have.

Every worker deserves a position that serves and aligns with his, her, or their purpose. Every worker deserves the flexibility to attend to personal and private needs and achieve a better work-life integration. And, every worker deserves equitable treatment, safe working conditions, and an inclusive culture that inspires them to thrive, think, speak, and innovate.

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“Culture” is a Foundational Element of the Future of Work

Business Leadership by Christopher J. Dwyer on

Around a decade ago, a firm I worked for brought in a foosball table to adorn an open space on one side of the office. On my infrequent trips to the company’s HQ (I spent the majority of my time working remotely), I was always encouraged by the hollers, laughs, and general positive vibes from the sales execs and research personnel engaged in competitive foosball tourneys.

I firmly remember interviewing a potential editorial candidate while one such tournament was occurring. “Seems like a fun place to work,” she noted as she looked past the conference room window at the smiles and laughs of my team members. “Sure is,” I said, before moving onto the next stage of the interview.

Ten years ago, a foosball table was enough to reflect a positive work culture to a potential employee. Today, it wouldn’t even come close to cutting it.

“Culture” must be considered a foundational element of the Future of Work movement, with business leaders doing all that they can to ensure that the enterprise comes across as being inclusive, positive, engaging, and a “destination workplace” that is alluring to candidates. “The Great Resignation,” as much as we may loathe the phrase, is a real and viable force that is actively pushing organizations to reimagine their talent acquisition strategies.

Even though culture was important before and during the pandemic, it takes on a different meaning today, considering that: 1) with the Omicron surge beginning to subside, business leaders are finally going to structure more in-office days for its workforce, 2) millions of workers, part of the “Talent Revolution,” are seeking more than just better compensation if they are going to return to work in 2022, and, 3) the harsh reality of talent retention today is this: it’s going to take a lot more for businesses to hang onto its top-tier talent throughout the coming months.

The following elements of culture prove why it’s such a critical piece of the Future of Work puzzle:

  • A company’s business culture is inevitably linked to the company’s brand. Company brand has often been more associated with finding and engaging talent, however, what many leaders forget is that “culture” and “brand” are symbiotically linked in a very profound manner. Is the company culture known for advancement opportunities, an inclusive attitude, and consistent engagement between leaders and workers? These are incredibly crucial aspects that traverse from culture into brand, with workers understand that if these attributes don’t line up, it won’t be worth their time and energy to apply for an open position. Poor business culture can weigh down how the enterprise “looks” from an external perspective; today, that can be crippling in the wake of The Great Resignation.
  • The proliferation of remote and hybrid work means workplace culture is more important, not less. Business leaders have to understand that it’s not March 2020 anymore. Remote and hybrid work are not reactive strategies, but rather foundational approaches for optimizing how work is done. Therefore, these leaders must translate in-office culture and its benefits to those working tens or hundreds of miles away. Remote workers don’t require annoying oversight, but rather empathetic and role-based support in order to thrive in digital working conditions. There’s a major difference between a robotic, “going-through-the-motions” 1:1 video call and a discussion on how a professional can grow, thrive, and succeed. If all business leaders adopted this approach, there would be less of a hesitancy to adopt fully-remote or heavy-hybrid models.
  • Overall enterprise vision is a pure reflection of its overall culture. This doesn’t just mean “make lots of money,” but rather the purpose of the overall organization and what it wants to prove, provide, and produce for the global market. Business leaders that truly want to change their industries begin that journey within, choosing to formulate management styles that are inclusive, empathetic, and promote innovation within the workforce ranks. Want to change the world? It starts with internal business culture.
  • The old adage of “experience first” is still quite applicable. The talent experience is still paramount in today’s hyper-competitive labor market. Everything from the tactical aspects of talent acquisition, such as interviewing, onboarding, etc., and the more strategic elements, like communication and collaboration, goes a long in fostering a workplace culture that is positive and engaging for candidates as they embark on their journeys.
  • Culture is now naturally aligned with the way(s) work gets done. This is perhaps the most powerful attribute of “culture” in today’s business landscape. Workers crave an environment that aligns with their purpose, their goals, their energy, their attitude, their believes, their values, and their journeys. They are going to give as much as they can if an employer can meet most or all of those elements. Business culture permeates across functions, units, leaders, and its workforce; if enterprises are keen on thriving in 2022, they will understand that the very ways they get work done are directly aligned with the overall culture of its workplace.
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“The Great Resignation” Is a Problem for All Businesses

Business LeadershipTalent by Christopher J. Dwyer on

I know, I know. We’re all getting sick of the phrase. It’s one of the main reasons why we need to look farther and deeper for why “The Great Resignation” is happening instead of pointing at the big, headline-inducing numbers. While we all wait with bated breath for the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ next report on resignations (the last one, which covered November 2021, showed a then-record 4.5 million quits in the United States), let’s take a moment to remember this:

The “talent revolution” is happening across all sectors and industries. I’ve heard conversations in which point to specific verticals as being more prone to quits than others, particularly areas like hospitality, restaurants, retail, travel, etc., considering that employees within these industries are more likely to desire flexibility, better pay, safer working conditions, better work-life integration, clearer career pathways, etc.

However, this discussion leaves so much more out of the equation. Take, for instance, this now-weeks-old article from The New York Times. It talks of the low-income sector’s turnover rates as a big reason why The Great Resignation was continuing to shatter monthly records consistently. But then we have this piece from my hometown Boston Globe, which finds that a booming local market (biotech, perhaps the “hottest” of industries at the moment) faces the same issues as other industries:

“About 16.5 percent of life sciences employees in Massachusetts voluntarily quit their jobs last year, a recent survey from research firm Radford found, up from 13 percent in 2018. Both figures are high enough to affect a company’s effort to grow.”

Massachusetts has become a hotbed of biotech giants and startups alike. It’s home to one of only two companies that offer an FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccine (Moderna). And it’s now facing the same staff shortages and turnover rates that other industries have been experiencing for nearly a year.

One critical, yet overlooked, reason why The Great Resignation continues to be an annoying issue is no business leader wants to believe it’ll happen to his or her industry…until it actually does, and by then, the numbers will point to the fact that it’s been happening for quite some time, right under their noses. All the more important, then, that enterprises attack this problem right at its foundation: talent.

Look at the media/relations/advertising industry (or industries): this fantastic article at AdAge is FILLED with quotes from leading ad execs that all state a common refrain. They understand that the market is shifting, that talent acquisition must change (and change quickly), and that Future of Work attributes, especially the extended workforce, are a means to success during these strange times:

“One potential upside that Ad Age reported on last year was that ad industry turnover isn’t a true “brain drain”—employees might not be qualifying for W-2s, but because contract work is thriving again, many are leaving staff jobs for freelance. In fact, an estimated 50% of the ad industry could be freelance within the next decade.

“We see the hybrid workforce as a win/win,” says Brett Channer, founder and CEO of Mass Minority. “As we grow across North America, this gives us access to a wider range of talent representing the market we serve.” For anyone who might see an increase in various state income tax requirements as a deterrent to freelance or location-agnostic hiring, Channer notes that though “it does add cost to our payroll operation, those costs are lower than the overhead to office these people.””

Purpose is a big contributor to the Talent Revolution. Flexibility is a core ideal, as well. Remote and hybrid work are non-negotiable at this point. These are the foundational aspects of what talent wants, what talent needs, and what talent will not sacrifice in 2022 and beyond. The Great Resignation is not just an issue for specific industries or verticals, but rather all enterprises within corporate America. If businesses can welcome the transformation of talent, harness the power of Future of Work strategies and tools, and truly embrace the workforce shifts happening today, there is hope that The Great Resignation will be looked back on as a watershed moment for workers in these progressive times of the past two years.

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In 2022, the Future of Work Must Be Driven By “Purpose”

Business LeadershipTalent by Christopher J. Dwyer on

The Future of Work means very different things to different executive leaders, workers, and business professionals. For some, it’s a focus on technology, innovation, and new forms of automation. For others, it’s about the strategic transformation of how the greater business operates. For those in HR, talent acquisition, or contingent workforce management, it’s an evolving focus on how talent is engaged, sourced, and onboarded. And, historically, the Future of Work simply translated into the achievement of better business outcomes via the utilization of new solutions and strategies.

In 2022, however, the Future of Work must be driven something that affects all levels of the enterprise and its workforce: purpose.

The “Talent Revolution,” which is what “The Great Resignation” is truly driven by, is a deeper representation of this statement. Workers are leaving their jobs because, in an age when work defines who we are as people, there should be some semblance of humanity, emotion, and, most critically, purpose behind what we do. The COVID-19 pandemic thrust all of us into a collective reawakening of sorts; when faced with consistent anxiety, stress, and trauma, workers became more human and began to integrate the emotional and professional sides of their personas.

Work attributes such as flexibility, remote and hybrid work, empathy (and empathy-driven leadership), pre- and mid-pandemic workplace safety standards, and an inclusive culture are crucial ideas for the modern-day worker. Too many business leaders are pushing the wrong agenda in regards to the so-called “Big Quit,” in that workers don’t want to work, don’t want to commute, and are only looking for higher compensation.

The truth is this: workers today want to work, but they want that work to have a purpose that aligns with their beliefs, their goals, their journeys, and their cultural personas. On the surface, it’s the ability to say “I love my job,” and, going much deeper, the ability to state, “This job fulfills my purpose.”

Tens of millions of workers left their positions in 2021, a record year for resignations. In the early days of the pandemic, many professionals were grateful to be working, to telecommute, and to continue providing for themselves and their families during uncertain times and the biggest health crisis of our lifetime. During the pandemic rollercoaster ride, many professionals began to understand what they wanted from their careers and their jobs, owing a newfound sense of purpose within the “how” and “why” of work.

Every business executive should be placing purpose in perspective in how they manage their staff, how they engage and acquire talent, how they lead and mentor their talent, how they operate the overall enterprise, and how they integrate technology and innovation into corporate processes and initiatives. Purpose is a multi-faceted concept that will drive the Future of Work in 2022; it is up to businesses to support and cultivate the symbiotic relationship between purpose-driven thinking and the way the organization addresses how work is done.

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