TRANSFORMING Teams By Paige McAllister
The challenges of recruiting and retaining
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known as “the Big Quit” or “the Great Resignation” is expected to continue into 2022. In 2021, a monthly average of 3.95 million workers quit their jobs for various reasons as indicated by different reports and polls. Joblist conducted a survey which indicated dissatisfaction with how their employer treated them during COVID19, low pay or benefits, and lack of work-life balance as reasons why employees quit their jobs, with a majority of remaining employees contemplating quitting as well. According to a report published by MIT Sloan School of Management, the “Great Resignation” is driven by five factors in addition to compensation: a toxic corporate culture, job insecurity and reorganization, high levels of innovation, failure to recognize employee performance, and poor response to COVID-19. The Atlantic attributes some of the increased employee resignation rates to employees switching to better, higher-paying jobs and to older workers retiring instead of coming back when their businesses reopened after COVID lockdowns. With 10.9 million job openings and more than 4.5 million new businesses registered in the first 10 months of 2021 (most of which are people working for themselves) employees have several options to find the pay, benefits, security, and/or work-life balance they want and need. Employers who want to retain their current employees and attract quality new employees should take an honest assessment of their company and prioritize initiatives to address employee needs and concerns. he current trend
COVID-19 response: Employers should provide a safe and healthy workplace for all employees while also realiz-
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n The Merchant Magazine n March 2022
ing everyone has been personally impacted by COVID-19 differently. Employees should feel protected at work and not be retaliated against or belittled for having concerns or taking measures they feel they need to protect themselves and their families. What you can do: Follow expert guidance on current protocols. Monitor positivity trends in your area and adjust as needed. Understand your employees’ concerns and challenges, offering assistance and compassion when possible. Insufficient pay or benefits: Employees are finding jobs with higher pay and better benefits and perks, usually in the same or similar industry utilizing their current job skills. What you can do: Conduct an unbiased assessment of your compensation practices, comparing them to the current market for your size, area, and industry. Offer affordable and valued insurance plans including the traditional health and dental insurance to more creative policies such as an EAP, pet health, or long-term care. Consider offering perks employees will appreciate such as occasional catered meals, on-site services such as auto detailing and dry cleaning, and half-days. Revise your paid time off policies to offer more days off, to be more flexible, or to be available sooner in an employee’s tenure. Work-life balance: COVID magnified the often-conflicting demands employees face outside of work. When mandates first went into effect, companies needed employees to figure out how to work from home. After an adjustment period, employees realized that the once-accepted outlays Building-Products.com
