Chief Executive Officer, Assette.
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One issue business leaders worldwide continue to face is the Great Resignation. It might not have the permanent residency on front-page news that it did in 2021, but its impact remains. Just a few days ago, a CNBC article reported that there are currently 10.7 million employment vacancies, or 1.8 open jobs per available worker.
While the numbers are improving, they remain staggering, and as many business leaders still exhaust cycles asking why employees continue to leave, a better exercise would be figuring out what the business could have done to prevent it from happening in the first place, and from there, what steps can be taken to attract new hires.
Adam Grant, author of the book Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know, has a great quote that really sums it up for me. He often says, “I study how to make work not suck.” While the quote does oversimplify the issue, Grant does get to the real crux of why people leave while also prompting leaders to consider what they can take to create a better workplace.
On both fronts, I believe the answer is appreciation.
Appreciation is part of the “two-way street” that’s so critical in the relationships between employees and leadership. On a two-way street, people listen to each other. They recognize an individual’s accomplishments and give thanks for their day-to-day contributions. It’s not a new concept, but it is one that many businesses abandoned when profits and shareholder value became the primary concern, and appreciation quickly became a lost art.
Appreciation, or a lack thereof, certainly is not the sole impetus behind these resignation figures, but it does play a role. If you take a few minutes to read up on this topic and jot down some common reasons people leave their jobs, some reoccurring themes emerge. These include toxic work environments, a lack of recognition and frustration around how they were treated during the pandemic, all areas where appreciation plays a role.
What makes appreciation challenging is that it’s a soft skill similar to work ethic. And unlike giving a promotion or a bonus, it can’t be handed out on demand to “stop the bleeding.” It’s also not a topic baked into the curriculum at many business schools or the agenda at executive events. The challenge is further complicated by company structures, in which the higher leaders go, the more isolated they become from employees. The growing remote workforce further compounded this isolation.
But change is necessary, and it begins with how we view employees. Shifts in how we view our people and their work are vital to cultivating an appreciation-driven culture. I would extend this by adding that employee value is not driven solely by each person’s successes, but by the countless number of hours they dedicate to keeping the lights on, the engine running and contributing to the overall success of the organization.
I would also add that this culture must be inclusive to everyone, from the team operating the call center to your sales force, HR staff and even the cleaning crew. And it’s not just a celebration of their efforts. It’s also a listening exercise. The pandemic is an excellent example of how the art of listening has eroded to a degree. Over this period, leaders were put to the test, specifically when it came to the safety and well-being of their employees. Based on what we’ve seen and read, many failed to take actions that demonstrated empathy to their people. That’s a significant failure.
While many are just now realizing the error of their ways, I am hopeful that the events of the past few years will serve as an awakening. It’s never too late to bring back a two-way street culture where greater focus is put on areas that are not directly tied to dollars and cents. This includes taking a step back to appreciate what it takes to keep your business moving.
As I like to say at Assette, our people come first. And when people come first, our clients come first. When clients come first, investors and shareholders come first, and at the end of the day, what you will learn is that this will all lead to more dollars and clients.
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