The Great Resignation Is Bigger than You Think It Is – How to Fight for Your Employees

The Great Resignation appears to be more than a trend. Recent projections by Gartner suggest that job turnover will be 20% higher than before the pandemic and that the culture of quitting will continue¹. That means that 37.4 million people will leave their jobs this year. 

What’s behind the resignations? A Pew Research Center survey² discovered 10 top reasons:

• Low pay - 63%
• No advancement opportunities - 63%
• Felt disrespected - 57%
• Child-care issues - 48%
• No/little flexible hours - 45%
• Poor benefits - 43%
• Working too many hours - 39%
• Wanted to relocate - 35%
• Not working enough hours - 30%
• Employer required a COVID vaccine - 18%

So, how can you slow the resignation? Consider the following eight employee retention strategies.

#1: Make Sure Onboarding is Superior

The first step to helping an employee feel good about their new job and understand how to thrive at their new company is to provide proper training at the onset.

What needs to go into good onboarding? Be sure to explain:

• Company info and culture
• Business/sales plans
• Goals and objectives
• Functional training
• Role clarification
• Team assimilation
• Career development

The research brief, The True Cost of a Bad Hire, found that strong onboarding improves employee retention by 82%³. 

 #2: Provide a Competitive Salary

The Gartner projection showed that nearly two-thirds of employees left their job due to a low salary.

A Bloomberg News poll found that over half of employees will seek offers from other companies and use that offer to get a raise at their current company. Of those, two-thirds would be willing to quit their current job for the new offer⁴.

That’s why it is important to pay employees a competitive wage. For companies that cannot up the pay, consider offering additional compensation, such as:

• Bonuses
• Benefits
• Perks

#3: Look at Work-Life Balance

Employees, especially since the pandemic, want a job that provides them with a good work-life balance.

In fact, one survey found that 52% of employees would consider leaving their current job over poor flexible work policies⁵.

This means offering things like:

• Flex-time
• Remote work options
• Vacation pay
• Family leave
• Volunteer time

#4: Provide Career Development

Although pay was the number one reason for employee resignation, stagnating careers is another big issue.

The Cengage Group found that four out of five employees considering a new job cited a lack of growth in their position as one of the reasons⁶. 

Your employees want to be seen as a person and not just a cog in the company wheel. Therefore, consider offering things like:

• Identification of areas for professional growth
• Upskilling opportunities
• Paid time off to attend conferences
• Tuition reimbursement
• Succession planning

#5: Create a Mentor Program

Providing a mentor to new hires (and to existing employees moving up the ladder) is a great way for employees to:

• Feel welcomed
• Gain confidence
• Set and meet goals
• Expand networks
• Grow professionally
• Be held accountable
• Develop skills

Plus, mentees can offer valuable insight from a fresh viewpoint. 

#6: Recognize and Reward Employees

Although pay and benefits are a form of recognition for completing a job, it is often not enough.

Employees want to feel appreciated. They want to hear that they are doing a good job and be given kudos when they go above and beyond.

Consider things like:

• Formal reward system
• Say thank you
• Write thank you in an email or on a certificate
• Cite accomplishments during performance reviews
• Feature employees in meetings, newsletters, or internal website
• Offer paid time off

#7: Communication

Strong workplace communication helps employees feel like part of the team. Companies that promoted open dialogue attract better candidates and have higher employee retention.

Managers and leaders need to be sure that they are:

• Listening to questions
• Providing feedback
• Tackling concerns
• Carrying out suggestions

Be sure that all communication within the company fits the needs of all employees, including remote workers and those with flex schedules. 

#8: Beyond the Standard Benefits

Employees expect to receive medical insurance and a retirement plan. In many cases, they now expect vision and dental coverage, as well as life insurance.

However, many other benefits and perks can increase an employee’s compensation package.

We’ve already discussed flexible hours and remote work, but here are a few more to consider:

• Employee discount program: Offer discounts for local stores as well as big-ticket items. 
• HSA account: An HSA covers out-of-pocket healthcare costs for employees with a high-deductible health insurance plan. They are portable, can be invested, and are not taxable.
• Childcare assistance: Consider such options as on-site childcare, stipends, or nanny-sharing.
• Wellness benefits: Help employees prioritize their health with such things as stress management, smoking cessation, weight loss, fitness classes, gym memberships, or reimbursement for health apps.
• Financial wellness: Employees are stressed about their financial health, so consider offering financial literacy classes, assessments, tools, one-on-one counseling, student loan assistance, savings matching programs, and more.

It is possible to increase job satisfaction with these strategies, and doing so will decrease the loss of employees due to the Great Resignation.

1. https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/04-28-2022-gartner-says-us-total-annual-employee-turnover-will-likely-jump-by-nearly-twenty-percent-from-the-prepandemic-annual-average 
2. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2022/03/09/majority-of-workers-who-quit-a-job-in-2021-cite-low-pay-no-opportunities-for-advancement-feeling-disrespected/ 
3. https://b2b-assets.glassdoor.com/the-true-cost-of-a-bad-hire.pdf 
4. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-02-04/should-i-quit-my-job-for-more-money-great-resignation-has-workers-taking-risks
5. https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/03-23-22-gartner-hr-research-finds-sixty-five-percent-of-women-report-the-pandemic-has-made-them-rethink-the-place-of-work-in-their-lives
6. https://cengage.widen.net/s/78hrkqgfj7/cg-great-resigners-research-report-final
7. http://www.theofficeclub.com/blog/2017/02/15/3-ways-to-retain-great-employees/