Page 2 - The Leadership Line: March 2022

The Great Resignation:

Who’s thinking of leaving?

Younger workers, including Millennials and members of Generation Z, are more likely
than members of Generation X and Baby Boomers to say they are actively searching
for a new job right now, according to Bankrate’s August jobseeker survey.
Among workers looking for a new job, the majority (68%) agree that they decided to
make a change during the COVID-19 pandemic and 64% said their expectations for
what they want in a job have changed since the pandemic. On the other hand, the
uncertainty caused by the pandemic has kept many job hoppers in place. As Bryan
Robinson, Ph.D., observed in “’The Great Resignation’ Migration and What This
Means for Your Career”

“We’re also seeing higher resignations among women, who have been
disproportionately impacted by caregiving responsibilities both at home and at
work throughout the pandemic,” said Robinson. “Female resignation rates have
increased year over year for the past three years, and the 2020 spike was likely
due to the pandemic. Women were not jumping from one employer to the next,
instead they had to leave the workforce altogether to take care of their families.”

According to many business leaders and human resources professionals, the largest pool of employees quitting is
those doing remote work. That comes as a surprise to some who were hoping that allowing workers to stay at home
this past year would increase people’s satisfaction in their roles when the time came to return. Instead, many are
apparently preferring to test the job market even when they are not asked to return to the office.
As the high level of resignations is predicted to continue through 2022, creating an inviting and comfortable
workplace environment, both remote and in-person, will be key to employee retention. This issue is to share
strategies targeting specific highly at-risk groups—Millennials and women.

Managing and Retaining Millennials

According to Business News Daily, Millennials play a vital Be accessible and approachable – Make sure you have
role in the workforce, accounting for more than one-third regular one-on-one time with each of your team members.
of American employees. Born between 1981 and 1996, Have an open-door policy to give them the freedom to
Millennials are the largest living group at 83.1 million discuss ideas, thoughts, and concerns. Discuss with them
strong. They are an invaluable asset to businesses as they what is working well and what needs improvement.
bring a fresh perspective, passion, and a drive to succeed. Be transparent – Millennials are much more motivated and
Read on to learn tips for working with and managing engaged when they can understand the big picture of what
Millennials. they are doing and why it matters. As much as you can,
involve them in your plans, and be transparent about your
strategic decisions. They want to know what challenges they
are facing instead of being kept in the dark.