How to Improve Employee Retention Following the Great Resignation

By Hari Kolam

It’s the most dramatic development in the employment landscape since women took over from men to work in the factories, shipyards, and assembly lines during World War II. The Great Resignation, the wholesale turnover of American workers as they quit their jobs and set out to find better ones, has forced stores to cut back hours, goods to idle in warehouses, and restaurants to trim their menus and services.

It’s a movement that’s as wide as it is deep: in September 2021, a record 4.4 million employees left their jobs—that’s an astonishing 3% of the workforce.

The wave has spurred employers to adopt new approaches to talent acquisition by tailoring their talent marketing more closely to candidates’ interests, and implementing new technologies to streamline the screening and hiring processes.

What caused the Great Resignation?

What’s behind the movement? Simply put, it’s Covid-19. The global pandemic forced millions to isolate and work from home. A LinkedIn survey reported 74% of workers said the time they spent at home has caused them to reevaluate their jobs and careers, leading many to decide that their employer’s expectations were unreasonable and they weren’t being paid enough. Because of this, a number of workers have chosen to pursue new work that is more about passion than compensation.

That mindset, and the resignations that comes with it, is evident today among both highly paid and lower-paid workers, especially affecting employees involved in healthcare, technology, retail, and transportation. A report from Microsoft found 41% of the global workforce “is likely” to consider leaving their employer in the next year, and 46% plan to make some kind of “major pivot” in their careers. According to Gallup, 48% of American workers are actively looking for a new job or keeping an eye out for opportunities.

All of this appears to have stacked the deck in the workers’ favor. At the end of August, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said there were 10.4 million job openings in the United States, down slightly from July’s record high of 11.1 million. To reduce churn among existing workers, a Greenhouse survey found 71% of employers plan to increase or expand existing benefits, 59% will introduce a new bonus scheme, and 56% are considering offering more time off.

Economic impact of the Great Resignation

All of this is having a dramatic impact on the economy. Pharmacies are reducing hours because they’re short-staffed. Supply chains have slowed due to a lack of workers at multiple points. Manufacturers are poaching workers from competitors by raising wages.

Hoping to avoid such pressures—or at least minimize them—business executives have made filling open roles a top priority. That, in turn, has led to changes in the way companies recruit and hire. Some have focused their talent acquisition efforts on hiring generalists rather than experts, for example. This approach, they say, expands the talent pool and gives employers the chance to train new hires according to their own methodologies and best practices.

Other companies have strengthened their internal development programs. A survey by Qualtrics revealed employees want more growth opportunities, along with higher salaries and less stress. Companies that offer more opportunity to employees can improve retention and also become more attractive as an employer.

More articles from AllBusiness.com:

• How to Write a Professional Resignation Letter
• 10 Ways to Attract Young Talent to Your Company
• Don’t Write Another Job Description Until You Ask Yourself These 4 Questions
• 14 Recruiting Hacks to Find the Best Job Candidates
• 13 Resume Clues That a Job Candidate Will Be a Good Fit

Employers are also changing how they evaluate candidates. According to The Wall Street Journal, the pandemic has given hiring managers “a new awareness” of how careers can run into rough waters because of family issues, layoffs, or illness. Gaps on resumes are no longer red flags, recruiters say. In a 2021 survey by Monster, 49% of U.S. recruiters said resume gaps had become acceptable.

It’s an intense, fluid picture which requires employers to approach talent acquisition with a fresh outlook and in the most efficient way possible. High numbers of applications must be processed in a short amount of time; systems must manage data, workflows, and communications so businesses can make informed decisions on strategy even while also reviewing and tracking heavy volumes of applications.

How businesses can improve employee retention

The Great Resignation has already changed the landscape of the workforce as we know it, and navigating through it means employers must become more open minded and agile in their approach to talent acquisition.

For instance, the idea of remote or hybrid work has become a priority for a large number of knowledge workers. They have grown accustomed to not having to commute, they find virtual meetings less stressful than in-person meetings, and they enjoy spending more time with their families.

In-person work can actually be a deal breaker for many workers. About 25% of employees said in a recent survey they would quit their jobs if they could not work remotely, and nearly half would take a 5% pay cut to continue to work remotely at least part-time. Why, then, not build it into your workforce strategy?

Families juggle work and childcare. To improve employee retention, why not offer job sharing where employees can share the workload and responsibilities of a single position with a coworker? You are much more likely to retain your value to employees when you offer them this level of flexibility and show you are empathetic to their needs. You win, too, since the work is being done by skillful employees and you don’t have to compete to hire and spend the time training someone new. A four-day workweek is another option to consider.

And finally, get to know your candidates to learn what they’re looking for in a position, and then figure out how to provide it. A radical change in the workforce calls for a more progressive way of thinking about what you are offering your current and prospective employees.

Navigating a new work world

The Great Resignation has changed the way employees view their work and the way employers pursue talent acquisition. The question organizations must ask themselves is, Are we keeping up?

RELATED: Should Your Business Rehire ‘Boomerang’ Employees Who Want Their Jobs Back?