The Elephant in the Resignation Letter
Let’s address the elephant in the room. People are leaving their jobs in, as some have called, a tsunami like motion. So what’s the elephant we need to name? We (Leaders, People Ops Leaders, Execs) cannot do anything to stop them.
Yes, we absolutely should look at the root causes. We should do more work to have competitive compensation and benefits. We need to ensure there are clear paths for how people can progress in their jobs — and I don’t just mean promotions.
I’m not saying we shouldn’t do anything about it. What I am saying is, the likely reality is that what we do to take action now is not going to change the tsunami landing on all our company’s shores.
Let’s step back.
We have all looked at our own mortality and seen the dark underbelly of the society we live in over the last nearly two years. That’s going to have an impact on you, your life and career choices, and even more simply how you choose to spend your time. The decisions we might make in the wake of watching covid and social unrest lay bare the truth that there is no ground beneath our corporate feet, let alone society’s, will be very different than the ones you made when your company worked to engage you and you didn’t just live through (and continue to live in) a pandemic. The last two years have changed you, they’ve changed all of us, and how we choose to live our lives.
Mental health days. $20k increases, clear paths to promotion and other advancement are great. And every single company should be upping their game. Yet, those changes will have little impact if you just need to move on. Sometimes, after you’ve looked an uncertain future in the face you need change. Period.
Not everyone will need or want that change. For some people stability, or the sense of stability, is what is most critical.
Here’s the thing though. The employees yearning for stability also don’t want to see any change. So when people leave, when the company makes new choices, when things aren’t “like they used to be” they’re going to express unhappiness and may show up disengaged too.
Now you have an engagement survey that tells you most of your team is likely looking for a job, or at least exploring what’s out there (see above for why), and most of your team is frustrated at all the change and assuming the leaders are doing nothing about it. They want to come to work and not have to deal with change. They are looking for work to be a steady port in a storm.
We cannot guarantee that. Nor should we.
No wonder every article about leadership and people and the ‘world of work” is about the great resignation (or now being called the great reshuffle). There is nothing we can do, nor should do, to stop people who need to move on. And for those who are yearning for stability we have to tread lightly to ensure they feel supported and still engaged in the daily change of growing a business while grappling with massive shifts in how employee centric a business must now be. (spoiler alert- I’m a big champion of work being more people-centric)
You’re not going to like my solution. It’s the hard one to grapple with. We all just need time.
So get ready to ride this wave as best you can. Insert various surfing metaphors.
- Use it to experiment and innovate.
- Use it to get even closer to your team and listen to them more.
- Use it to practice your coaching skills.
- Use it to investigate the changes you may need or want to make in your own day to day.
We have time, let’s use it to our advantage to get even better at leading.
