There’s been a lot of talk about “The Great Resignation”. I’ll be blunt. Every time I hear the phrase I think about how it could have been so easily avoided. 

First, let me say that strictly from a business standpoint, what entrepreneurs and business owners everywhere have endured since the start of the pandemic is not lost on me. I personally know business owners who had to shutter their dreams – for good. It breaks my heart. 

If you made it, like I know many of you have, you still have some challenges to face. Let me help you eliminate one big one: The dissemination of your team. Your own company’s Great Resignation. 

Let’s back it up. When you’re forced to stop your routine for a prolonged time, it’s normal to reevaluate where you are in life. Thanks to the pandemic, we’ve been taking stock of every damn thing. Like New Year’s Day on steroids. Only far scarier. So when a large percentage of employees were removed from their daily environment and routine at an office, and sent home to work, their landscape changed. Literally and figuratively. Things started to look – different. 

Is The Great Resignation that big of a deal? According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics, 33 million Americans quit their jobs since the Spring of 2021. Maybe you haven’t experienced this first hand, but the stats don’t lie. So who’s quitting? 

Just about, well, anyone who isn’t happy at work and has a better opportunity. Millennials have a little more wiggle room to design their life due to less outside responsibility. Millions of parents with secondary jobs who needed to stay home with their kids hit the bricks. Mid-career employees who were facing employee dissatisfaction decided to look for better, and found it. Some folks later in their careers decided they could retire early. Millions of employees realized they were working in a toxic environment and/or felt employee dissatisfaction. Everyone from millennials to baby boomers started asking, ‘What am I really doing with my life and what can I do about it?” Basically, if the pandemic didn’t paralyze you with fear, it gave you the stones to take big steps forward.

The summary? The Great Resignation has been born from a great reframing of our lives. And it’s forcing necessary conversations about work culture. 

Leaders may think they did everything they could to pivot their business when the pandemic hit. If your business allowed for it, virtual work became the norm. It used to be that when you heard the term, “work from home”, there was a little side eye attached. I think we all quickly learned that just because you don’t report to a workplace, the demands aren’t less. In fact, there were more hoops to jump through between getting a virtual arrangement coordinated overnight and finding a surface to work on at home if you didn’t already have an office. The dynamics of in person employee interaction changed. People often felt detached. Most of all, for your employees, boundaries between work and home life got blurred – real quick. Working from home didn’t offer much comfort (except for the ongoing jokes about the lack of pants during Zoom calls).

For years, it’s been accepted –  the hustle, burnout, long workdays, the unrelenting expectation of climbing the ladder, and the deterioration of mental health. Like an out of body experience, employees began to see how they had been spending their time, where they were giving their energy, and if any of it was really worth it. And when people start to evaluate if something is worth it, they already have one foot out the door. 

What I’m getting at is that there are fifty factors off of the top of my head that could contribute to your own company’s Great Resignation. What’s stopping your team from taking that next step out of your company’s door? 

My simple solution? You. It starts with you, the business owner. You need to beat The Great Resignation with becoming a Great Leader. An evolved leader. The world economy is evolving, so your leadership needs to as well. Right now. (I’m serious. Now. Start taking notes and apply them today.)

Is your business worth it? I assume so. If you have a great team, you need to beef up your employee retention strategies. Your team needs to feel that they are:

• Valued
• Fulfilled
• Empowered
• Well paid
• Have real (not lip service) work life balance

This all starts with you. It starts with you adapting leadership to the new needs of the economy and work culture that’s developing. While you may feel you already have this in the bag, I invite you to do the work – the real work.

Employers can avoid The Great Resignation, starting with ensuring employees feel valued. Employee engagement is just the tip of the iceberg, but crucial. By now, you’ve recognized just about everything is evolving. That evolution goes for your employees’ expectations, too. What was necessary for your team member to succeed and and out of work has likely changed since she or he was hired. Perhaps they have outgrown their role. Maybe they require more family time. Do you know what your employees need?

Start here: Run an audit of where your leadership stands in your business, and how you can reframe your leadership and avoid being a statistic in this Great Resignation. 

How to run the audit – Start with an anonymous survey. Be transparent about why you’re conducting it, and that you’re considering reframing your leadership for better employee satisfaction and fulfillment. Ask questions such as:

• Are you fulfilled at work?
• Do you like your role?
• Would you like to take on other tasks?
• Would you like to eliminate some tasks?
• What would make you feel happier at work?
• Do you have life/work balance?
• Do you like your hours?
• How are your working relationships?
• What would you like to see improved overall in the business?
• What would temp you to accept an outside job offer?

Once you’ve collected your data, get real with yourself about how you can reframe your leadership style to accommodate the needs of your team, and increase employee retainment. Remember:

• What’s the best leadership skill? Listening. The evolution in the workplace we’re experiencing calls for one big shift in leadership. Don’t be lazy about this. Seek and implement new systems, from daily meetings, to 1:1’s and anonymous surveys. Listen to what your employees are saying about their jobs, because your business relies on it.
• Empowerment – Empower your team members by giving them autonomy over their roles. They’ll be invested like owners. And, you as the owner, will do less micromanaging. I know, it may be hard to let go at first, but usually when you place your trust in your team members, they are far more dedicated.

You may find developing your leadership style is challenging at first, but look at it this way: Are you the same person you were in high school? Are you the same person as when you began your business? Heck, are you the same person you were a couple of years ago? Likely not. We are always evolving, growing, redirecting, and improving. The world is changing. Accept it, grow with it, and create an impactful leadership style that promotes positive change.

Stay tuned for more leadership topics. Be the new leader. Create a culture your employees would be crazy to leave.