How to manage modern workforce according to 15Five

HR exec shares his 5 top tips for managing during the Great Resignation

May 26, 2022 1:20 PM

The Great Resignation is far from over, and while many employers feel helpless to stop it, hiring managers better suited for this new workforce is something they can control.

In March alone, 4.5 million people quit their jobs, according to Jon Greenawalt, SVP of customer transformation at software company 15Five, who spoke at Tuesday’s From Day One conference in New York. And those high employee turnover rates have cost the U.S. economy $223 billion in employee capital.

But the disruption isn’t contained to America: only 20% of employees working worldwide feel engaged at work, according to 15Five, and the remaining 80% plan to leave their jobs if they don’t find the right support.

"People are seeking better opportunities — they're going somewhere else where they're going to get a better opportunity, better pay, better chance to grow their career,” Greenawalt said. “They want autonomy and flexibility and they want to work for companies and leaders who actually care about them as a whole.”

And that responsibility will fall on managers, Greenawalt said, as these daily interactions and conversations can have an outsized impact on an evolving workplace.

“We need to define the new leader of the workplace of tomorrow,” he said. “People don’t quit their companies — they quit their managers.”

But what does it take to be a modern manager? Greenawalt provided a few key elements all managers need in order to successfully support this new workforce:

Cultivate psychological safety

A good modern manager knows how to build strong relationships with their employees by engaging them in intentional conversation.

“Open up your one-on-ones and your team meetings with five minutes of ‘How are you doing? How's your life? What's going on?’” Greenawalt said. “Work-life separation is a myth. We are all a whole person. My work life is going to impact my home life, and my home life is going to impact my workplace. It's all one and the same.”

Play to everyone's strengths

Knowing your own strengths isn’t enough — a good manager also knows their employees’ strengths and how to leverage them for the best outcomes, both for business and for their people.

“It doesn’t take much,” he said. “You don't even really need to know it all, you just have to be aware that people do have core sets of strengths. When they're doing work that's aligned with their strengths, they're happier.”

Foster positivity

Some managers believe that giving employees too much positive feedback will hinder their performance, and may overcorrect by giving more negative feedback. But employees are already caught in loops of negativity bias, constantly comparing themselves and their work to that of others’ — a good manager shouldn’t perpetuate that, Greenawalt said.

“It doesn't mean we don't have constructive feedback conversations,” he said. “But we as managers and leaders, we have to pour on the praise. It does not make people weak. Employees need it.”

Provide intrinsic motivation

Playing to employees’ strengths is just the first step. The next is to create goals based on those strengths that employees will feel motivated to meet.

“Intrinsically motivating goals are goals that are aligned with employees’ strengths,” Greenawalt said. “And employees can come up with those goals in partnership with you as their leader. Then employees are working on the things that they’re really passionate about. And if they can't come up with goals in their role, then they're in the wrong role.”

Have a personal growth mindset

This may seem obvious, but a lot of managers forget to foster employees’ personal growth, as well as their professional one.

“I, as a leader, ensure that my team has goals that push them to go outside their comfort zone, because that's the only place that growth really occurs — when you've done something that's really challenged you,” he said. “So those types of goals are really important to fostering the growth plan.”