5 Tips to Help Your Business Navigate the Great Resignation
After nearly two years of challenging circumstances across many industries, workers have decided that simply having a job is not enough to feel successful. Employees want more flexibility, better treatment, and are willing to shop around for potential employers to get what they’re looking for. The Great Resignation describes the phenomenon of millions of workers laying down their tools and looking for something better.
In June 2021, 3.9 million people quit their jobs. Less attentive employers describe this as a “labor shortage,” but the truth is that there are plenty of hard workers out there. It’s up to individual companies to provide the right environment to encourage them to stay. Here are 5 tips to help your business navigate the Great Resignation.
1. Offer Remote Work or Shift Flexibility
Your employees have seen that when there’s a crisis, it’s possible for them to work from home. Human resource professionals should not expect employees to rush back to the office without a carefully crafted plan. Research overwhelmingly shows that workers are more productive when working from home.
The counterargument to remote working is a lack of company culture, less team interaction, and difficulty sharing ideas. But with technologies like Zoom and Slack bringing people all over the world together, remote work is turning into a great option for many people and companies. It’s especially useful for those employees with long commutes, introverted personalities, or mental health challenges who may struggle to get into the office every day.
2. Create Goals and Values Beyond Profits
What are your company values? Do they align with the values of your team? Are they vague or unclear? If your business exists purely to generate profit, chances are you’re not generating loyalty among your workforce. Think about the difference you want your company to make, lay out a clear direction and path you’ll take, and get your team involved in the process. Discover and implement the benefits employees consistently ask for, such as financial wellness benefits.
3. Connect with Employees
It’s easy to let one-on-one check-ins slide when workers are working from home or working hard all day. However, employees value feedback from their managers, and they enjoy the opportunity to provide feedback as well.
According to Gallup, managers who receive feedback on what they’re doing well perform better and are more profitable for companies–up to 8.9% more profitable. Similarly, 92% of employees agreed that even critical or negative feedback leads to better performance. It’s the engagement and interest from peers and management that’s necessary to feeling involved and valued.
4. Create a Recognition Scheme
Go beyond a great compensation and benefits package. Create a rewards and recognition plan to highlight excellent work or brilliant team players. You can establish different categories to ensure various types of employees get recognized, and you can vary the rewards based on what type of business you run and what your employees like. Consider engaging your employees when planning recognition systems so it’s meaningful for them when it’s implemented. Recognition schemes can be as simple as offering employees company logo wear that doubles as company advertising.
5. Implement a Financial Workplace Wellness Program
When employees become distracted or distant, it’s not always to do with their role or responsibilities at work. Financial troubles can be a key source of depression and anxiety, even when these challenges don’t stem from the workplace. However, having a financial wellness program in place can help provide vital financial education to assess and address these needs. Financial education covers topics such as budgeting, debt reduction, and building wealth.
Financial literacy not only teaches techniques to manage debt and build wealth, but creates lifelong habits that promote financial wellbeing. This inevitably benefits both employees and their employers by removing the stress and doubt that comes from an uncertain financial future.
Show Your Employees You Care
HR professionals know that wellness programs and wellness benefits work. If you treat your employees right and show them you care, they’re more likely to weather tough times with your business. Help your business navigate the Great Resignation by partnering with 101 Financial Workplace Wellness to reduce employee stress, improve productivity, and make your business a better place to work.
Get in touch with our team today to find out how we can establish a financial wellness program at your business, and download our free ebook to determine the potential ROI of a financial workplace wellness program.