How HR can counter ‘The Great Resignation’

I’m the human resource (HR) manager of a family-owned business. Management is alarmed at the extraordinary number of employee resignations beginning this year. The exit interviews gave us varied responses but most of the time, we’ve heard people talking about the pandemic and the poor response of our government. Some said they plan to put up a business while others are planning to work in other countries. How do we stem the tide of “The Great Resignation?” — Banana Sundae.

Decades back, a group of university researchers studied the perceptions of people of various academic backgrounds and experiences. They devised a simple, one-question test for all the professions. The first to be tested was an engineer. The researchers asked him: “What’s two plus two?”

The engineer said: “In absolute terms, it’s four.” The researchers made their notes then thanked the engineer for his participation. Next in line was a doctor who was asked the same question. His answer was conditional: “There are several possibilities. Two plus two is equal to four, but it could be one plus three is equal to four.

“Or two and one-half and one and one-half also make four. So it is all in the matter of choosing the right option.” The researchers thanked him and made their notes.

Next up was a lawyer. The researchers repeated the same question. The lawyer looked around and asked if he could close the door for privacy.

Then, he leaned toward the researchers and said: “What would you like it to be?”

MANAGE, NOT CONTROL
This story suggests many options that could lead to the answer, which in your case is, how to reduce the number of resignations. In other words, you can do many things, either simultaneously or one after the other, depending on the circumstances. More important, it is best to understand that you can only manage the situation but not control it.

Don’t delay. Explore the following options and make you and your HR team busy by doing the following:

One, validate the result of the exit interview. You may have read in this space that I’m against the exit interview because of its reactive nature compared to the annual employee opinion survey. However, in times like these when employees are reeling from the adverse effects of the pandemic, it is best to verify the real reason for their resignation and act, within the company’s means.

Two, allow flexible working arrangements. If applicable, establish a hybrid work schedule that allows work from home and require them to work in-person at the office for say, once or twice a week. Then offer a cash allowance to pay for their internet and electricity costs out of whatever savings you can put together from the reduced office operating expenses.

Three, allow resigned workers to come back. Make exceptions for “boomerang” workers who have shown consistent high performance to return to work within one year from their resignation. Or, allow some key people with “hot skills” and excellent track records to take a leave of absence without pay for one to three months so they can reflect on their final decision.

Four, review and strengthen the succession plan. It is a basic policy that can’t be ignored as it is an integral part of the business continuity plan. This allows you to be ready at any time in case of sudden resignation, illness, incapacity or even death. It’s the only way to test the readiness of workers and can be trialed when some key personnel have to go on emergency leave.

Five, improve the employee healthcare package. The pandemic has given us extraordinary awareness of the importance of health and safety issues. We can’t predict what will happen to us. And that alone is your cue to spend on a health maintenance program that will surely be appreciated by the workers.

Last, improve the line supervision strategies. More than ever, this is the best time to require supervisors and managers to improve their work relationships. You can start by focusing on the sections, functional units or departments with the most number of resignations. The objective is to predict resignations and prepare for them at any time.

DRAMATIC CHANGES
Not all resignations are bad. It’s an opportunity for an organization to inject new blood into the system. However, an extraordinary exodus of workers is disastrous and should be managed correctly.

Closely monitor the attrition rate. My rule of thumb is that if it’s in the single digits, then accept it as part of the normal course of business. When there’s a dramatic increase, say from 2% to 15% in a single month. This is worrisome, especially if it continues in the succeeding months.

The pandemic has led to enormous and dramatic changes that we can’t afford to be reactive to. All businesses, with the proactive help of HR, must continue to guide all managers and workers to face extraordinary levels of complexity and interdependency between labor and management.

Have a chat with Rey Elbo via Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter or send your workplace questions to elbonomics@gmail.com or via https://reyelbo.consulting.