How Your Company Can Steer Clear of the ‘Great Attrition’

The Great Attrition is flooding top stories around the world. Companies are finding it more and more difficult to hang on to their employees, and according to Georgina Barrick (managing director at Network Contracting Solutions, AdvTech Resourcing’s Contracting Division), South Africa is expected to partake in this concerning trend. 

With an already sky-high unemployment rate of 34.4%, South Africa will face bigger problems in the near future if businesses don’t seek better ways to retain their staff. 

The first step to finding the solution is to ask important, exploratory questions: 

• What is the driving force behind the Great Attrition? 
• Why are so many employees dissatisfied with their jobs? 
• How can companies meet the crucial needs their employees are crying out for?

We’ve done some research of our own and have found some game-changing answers to these questions. This could be the difference between an organisation with high employee turnover and weak stamina, and a strong team who find value in their jobs. 

Why are employees leaving their jobs?

The overall picture we get is that employees crave purpose. Although salary is no doubt an important factor – as employees want to feel looked after and secure in their jobs – workers have also expressed a need for personal support. The change in times has resulted in employees fearing for their security, battling with loss, and facing many other trying mental issues. It’s become more difficult to compartmentalise work from personal life. Instead of demanding or expecting this separation from employees, businesses and team leaders need to find new ways of supporting their employees’ needs and desire for personal connection. 

A large percentage of employees around the world have shown to be so dissatisfied with their jobs that their actions convey desperation for better work. As displayed in the graph below, McKinsey & Company’s studies reflect that of the employees surveyed, 36% of those who resigned had done so without the security of another job lined up. This proves a major gap in employee care that businesses will be forced to address. 

How can companies avoid the Great Resignation?

These are the major pain-points for employees, that if addressed by leaders, could turn these statistics and predictions around:

Offer the right benefits

Although you might offer enticing benefits like employee discounts and rewards, or care and recognition gifts, they are not the benefits your employees really need. 

A large portion of your staff have likely suffered from the financial and health-related consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic. These employees will be seeking benefits related to childcare, medical aid, and other family-orientated benefits. 

Avoid building transactional relationships

If your first instinct to retain staff is to raise their salaries, it could unintentionally tell your team that the relationship between them and your company is simply transactional. 

Your employees need to feel valued beyond their paycheck. This links to the point above. Are you providing benefits that show your staff you value them as a person and not just an asset? 

Provide connection

Many employees miss connecting with their teammates. Organisations need to make more of an effort to create a community amongst their staff, within safety regulations. 

Encourage connectivity beyond the workplace – whether it’s monthly one-on-one conversations over coffee, or video call conversations on a Monday that show interest in your employee’s personal weekend activities.

Lead with compassion

Staff turnover in South Africa has already increased by 16% across all sectors, according to Remchannel’s Managing Director, René Richter. The solution is to change the way you lead! 

Technical, task-allocating skills won’t cut it these days. Employees need compassionate leaders with strong people skills. Times have changed, workers have changed, and so organisations and leaders need to change, too. 

Provide development opportunities

Employees are looking for jobs they can grow in. Very few people want to stay stagnant in the same job position until retirement. We can guarantee that your team wants to feel that they have places to go. 

Provide a space for your staff to learn and develop their skills, along with short- and long-term goals that employees can aim to achieve. 

Summit can help you reach these goals. Our training programmes offer unique skills development opportunities, and are designed to help you shape the healthy and happy team your business needs to retain job satisfaction. 

Get in touch so we can chat about your company’s goals!