Employees are looking to work for an organization that connects with their purpose.
This is part three of a six-part series.
“Why hire intelligent and capable people that have spent a lot of money getting educated and then tell them exactly what you want them to do? It makes no sense.” —Maricarmen Burgos, executive vice president and client leader for Aon in Puerto Rico
From record rates of quitting, to the rise of so-called “quiet quitting,” to now increasing threats of layoffs – the word “uncertainty” hardly seems adequate to describe how both employees and employers are feeling as we head toward a new year.
But it certainly fits right in with this series: this is part three of a six-part series on navigating uncertainty in business, healthcare and higher education. The articles in this series feature a blend of written content and short videos of individuals from across industries.
- Part one introduced the secret to navigating uncertainty: seeing change as opportunity, not as a threat.
- Part two addressed how uncertainty is forcing higher education to evolve.
In this article, I’ll share insights from industry leaders about how uncertainty affects the workplace – and how employers must find ways to give employees sustainable work lives that offer opportunities for growth.
These insights were shared in Session 2 at the fourth annual Leadership in the Age of Personalization Summit, which took place in October at Clemson University’s Wilbur O. and Ann Powers College of Business.
Employee Retention Changed During the Pandemic
Elpida Ormanidou is vice president of business intelligence and advanced analytics at PetSmart. She opened this session with a keynote about a study she led to help employers better understand what motivates their employees. Her team surveyed more than 100,000 to understand why people will wake up in the morning, get in their car and drive and show up at work.
In this short video she talks about that study and the results, what those results mean for employers who are looking for ways to attract and retain people in this tight talent market, and how that changed during the pandemic.
Effective Leaders See Themselves as the Foundation of the Pyramid – Not at the Top
In the panel discussion that followed, leaders acknowledged and addressed the challenges facing employers as people have many options today in terms of where they choose to use their talents.
From Left to Right: Jeff Pilof, Tiffany King, Mike Dandorph, Maricarmen Burgos and Glenn Llopis at ... [+]
Mike Dandorph, president and CEO at Tufts Medicine, said that leaders should not think of themselves as existing at the top of the pyramid – but rather should see themselves as the foundation of the organization that's supporting the rest of the organization.
Tiffany King, vice president of human capital for core services at United Healthcare, argues that onboarding should be a two-way process that allows for new employees to have some autonomy in decision-making.
Jeff Pilof, chief logistics and inventory officer at Sysco Corporation, challenges leaders to get to know their employees as individuals and to create an environment where everyone feels like they belong. This helps people understand how they fit into the greater whole – and that motivates people to give it their all.
Maricarmen Burgos, executive vice president and client leader for Aon in Puerto Rico, implores organizations to prioritize health, wellbeing and development in order to create a sustainable work life and a resilient workforce.
In this short video, the panel discusses why it’s so important to help employees see how their own individual sense of purpose connects to the larger purpose of the organization.
Employee Purpose is the Key
Don’t let the news of impending layoffs make you think that employees are losing leverage when it comes to their demands for better workplaces. People want to feel a sense of purpose, and they’ll leave to find it if they have to.
The same goes for your customers and partners, by the way. They want to buy from or partner with organizations whose sense of purpose they share.
I’ll explore that topic in part four of this series, where we’ll look at how uncertainty affects organizations’ approach to the marketplace and to their commitments to responsible environmental, social and governance (ESG) and to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).
