Employees may be planning their exits if they feel undervalued
Americans have quit their jobs and not returned to the workforce at a historic rate, an exodus some call “The Great Resignation.” The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that more than 4.5 million workers voluntarily left their jobs during November 2021–the highest number in the 20 years.
A survey by PlanBeyond, a market research agency, indicated that employees were feeling undervalued as a top reason for the Great Resignation. Among all the reasons for quitting cited in the poll, feeling undervalued factored in by 22%.
The survey found that the lack of appreciation was the top factor for quitting among men, it was only the second biggest driver for women, edged out by a lack of respect for supervisors, which was seen as having a 22% influence on women’s likelihood to quit.
This phenomenon should come as no surprise, given that many organizations and industries have long overworked and burned out their people. Leaders have bought into the false narrative that high performance and humanity are mutually exclusive.
Individuals are disillusioned with their employers and are increasingly looking to hold them to “moral” standards that would have been unthinkable years ago. As such, they are more loyal to organizations that convey and uphold a mission that aligns with their personal values.
While it may seem obvious that workers are more likely to stay at organizations that offer such opportunities, most employment situations have historically lacked, and continue to lack, many of these very attributes. This illustrates how too few organizations have internalized the truism that attracting and retaining great people requires them to first become great places to work.
Though quitting is happening across all job sectors and among workers at all skill levels, it has particularly impacted hospitality and food services, wholesale trade, and in state and local education.
References:
- https://www.fastcompany.com/90716203/the-great-resignation-heres-a-simple-reason-why-your-employees-want-to-quit
- https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2021/10/harvard-economist-sheds-light-on-great-resignation/
- https://www.fastcompany.com/90715043/5-overlooked-opportunities-that-could-turn-the-tide-of-the-great-resignation