Take a look around at all of the help wanted signs and posts, and it is not difficult to realize that the workforce has drastically changed. With a record number of employees quitting their jobs – 4.3 million, the world of work is changing around us, and now is the time to make adjustments. Low-income earners have left at the highest rate, especially those in hospitality, retail, and other high contact jobs that require continual exposure to others. Although the great resignation can seem impossible to overcome, there is a way to overcome the talent shortage and become a talent magnet.
Understand the Paradigm Shift of Leverage
For the first time in modern history, employees hold the leverage on employment. In the past, most workers were happy to receive a paycheck, but living amid COVID has changed that point of view. The pandemic has caused people to live with the constant realization that the threat of death is real and life is too short to live a life that has not amounted to anything. Because of these new realizations of the brevity of time and life, people want to spend time with their families and live a more balanced lifestyle. The message sent to employers is that employees will no longer tolerate a feeling like a number without a voice. They are no longer willing to put up with being asked to show up, shut up, and do their jobs.
As an employer, you must ask yourself a probing question – Why are your employees leaving? As a strategist who works with hundreds of companies, I see that in most places, it comes down to employees feeling valued. They desire being seen, heard, and they want their importance to the company to be validated. Who among us ever wants to be viewed as a number? Now is the time to evaluate how you demonstrate to your employees their value and importance to your business.
Waiting This Out Is Not an Option
If you think you will wait this shift out, that is no longer an option. This new mindset of workers is no longer a fleeting concept – it is the new reality – with permanence for the foreseeable future. Understanding that it takes between 21 and 90 days to form a new habit, this new way of thinking and acting has gone on for almost two years; therefore, it goes past a habit and has actually become a way of life and undoing or changing it is highly unlikely. Waiting it out is no longer viable, and now is the time to embrace it and make adjustments.
Change is a Non-Negotiable
If you plan on navigating this change and making it as a business leader in this new workforce environment, you must change your attitude and how you view your employees. One of the first changes needs to be an adjustment to your values, mission, and vision statement to reflect what is required by the current market conditions. To attract employees, become a talent magnet, and get your people to stay, you have no choice except to make significant changes.
At the Growth Architect, we want to provide you with the tools and techniques to help you navigate the challenges of this great resignation. As a strategist, I want to help you create a plan for attracting and retaining talent in this challenging time. If you want to learn more about surviving the great resignation, check out my video--let’s grow!
Beate Chelette is The Growth Architect & Founder of The Women’s Code, a training company specialized in providing companies an ROI on Balanced Leadership. She has been named one of 50 must-follow women entrepreneurs by the Huffington Post. A first-generation immigrant who found herself $135,000 in debt as a single parent, she bootstrapped her passion for photography into a highly successful global business and eventually sold it to Bill Gates in a multimillion-dollar deal.
Beate works with business leaders and supports organizations by developing and providing training the training, tools, and expertise to create and maintain a balanced, equal, and inclusive work environment that fosters creativity, employee engagement, and corporate growth.
Recent clients include Merck, Women’s Legislative Caucus of California, Cal State University Dominguez Hills, Small Business Development Centers (SBDC), NFTE, CreativeLive, the Association of Corporate Growth, and TracyLocke.
Beate is the author of the #1 International Amazon Bestseller “Happy Woman Happy World – How to Go From Overwhelmed to Awesome” a book that corporate trainer and best-selling author Brian Tracy calls “a handbook for every woman who wants health, success and a fulfilling career.
To book Beate to speak or train please connect here. Your Time Is Valuable!