How to Avoid the “Great Resignation”

“The Great Resignation is here, and it's quite real,” writes Phillip Kane, Ceo and Managing Partner of Grace Ocean, a management consulting firm based in Ohio. 

“According to the U.S. Department of Labor, during the months of April, May, and June 2021, a total of 11.5 million workers quit their jobs. Recent studies indicate that it's likely not over. A survey of over 30,000 workers conducted by Microsoft found that 41 percent are considering quitting; that number jumps to 54 percent when Gen-Z is considered alone. Gallup found that 48 percent of employees are actively searching for new opportunities. And Persio reported that 38 percent of those they surveyed planned to make a change in the next six months.”

Kane underlines the significant costs of turnover. And it’s not just the effort and time to onboard new employees. There’s the loss of opportunity, productivity, and institutional knowledge too. When people leave jobs, they take relationships and unwritten norms along with them. These are elements of a highly effective workplace that can’t be rebuilt quickly.

So how can companies combat these resignation trends within their own ranks? 

“In a word, care.” Kane writes that “workers simply want to be recognized; in fact, according to bonusly.com, 63 percent of those in a recent survey who said they are regularly recognized also said they are very unlikely to look for a new job.”

For companies that are committed to meeting this moment of existential crisis, Essential Partners can help make this a reality. Our work is designed to create organizational cultures founded on trust, constructive communication, and collaborative work together where people are heard and taken seriously. 

According to our field-leading research and evaluation program, 90% of participants feel more understood by their peers after an EP engagement, 77% of participants feel that their organization is more cohesive, and 75% of participants see improvements in patterns of communication. 

We begin by mapping your organization to identify problems in your culture of communication. Then we can help managers and employees develop their communication skills through live training and coaching sessions. We can collaboratively design sustainable employee engagement efforts that actually improve your culture of communication, making your workforce more cohesive, more resilient, and more collaborative in the long-term.

This work is not one-size-fits-all. It takes time to implement. But it is a pennies-on-the-dollar investment compared to the cost of high turnover.

Want to weather this Great Resignation? Contact us today for a free half-hour consultation or attend a workshop to learn more about our work.