Employers received millions of resignations in the last year and are bound to see more before the era of great resignation comes to a full close. And while many HR leaders and managers are working to offer the right mix of compensation, benefits and flexibility that will retain current talent, there’s no foolproof way to
With nearly 40 million quits recorded in 2021 by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Jill Chapman, senior performance consultant at HR services company Insperity, knows managers need a plan for when resignation hits their inbox.
“There is value in trying to understand why folks might be leaving your organization,” says Chapman. “But sometimes a person is just ready for a change, and you need to make sure you spend time thinking about the team who is still hanging in there and what they need.”
Read more:
For Chapman, when someone resigns, managers need to focus on the talent who remain. Resignations can be difficult for other employees, whether it be because of the increased workload or even feelings of loss. EBN spoke with Chapman to further understand how managers should approach resignations and what it means for other workers who are still sticking with their team and organization.
When someone does resign, how should managers address it?
Once that person has made the decision, then it's all about what's next — and what's next is to make sure that the team that's left behind stays motivated, stays engaged, stays focused and doesn't get caught up in all the extraneous conversations that might go on about the person who resigned.
You have to make the best of it and not overwork the current team while finding a new hire. The Great Resignation has lengthened the time a position stays open, so managers need a sustainable solution for resignations. The last thing you want to do is give your team more work than they can handle. When people feel like they are on a hamster wheel, personal and professional development gets thrown to the wayside. And when you talk to people about why they left, it’s because they felt like no one was investing in them. I encourage employers to keep their business’ pace, but not at the cost of their current talent.
Read more:
What can the loss of a team member mean to other workers?
We get very close with our coworkers — they can be like family. Their departure can leave a void. Leaders should be prepared for their team to feel emotional or uncertain. They are undergoing change, and everybody at some level is a bit resistant to change. Not to mention that whoever just left could have been someone’s best friend or most trusted co-worker. That’s why leaders need to respectfully acknowledge when someone leaves the team, but then turn their focus on who remains and acknowledge what they may be struggling with, whether it be workload or more personal feelings.
On the other hand, it can prove beneficial to your team when people leave. Maybe as time passed, that person just wasn’t passionate about their work anymore, and they wanted to move on. This gives you a chance to reshuffle and redo because when somebody leaves your team, it changes the DNA of your organization. Leaders should be aware of that, so they can divvy up responsibilities and duties with intention. Look at who is here and ask, ‘Who is the most driven about this kind of work?’ Then the next hire you bring on the team can fill in the holes leftover.
Read more:
How has the Great Resignation impacted how leaders treat remaining talent?
It not only gives employees an opportunity to think about what's important to them, but it’s also a chance for employers to take a look at the things that they might have taken for granted in the past, and just how important their talent really is. For example, two companies can sell widgets, but the difference between my widgets and yours is going to be the people that we use to make those widgets, to sell those widgets and to market those widgets. This is the era of the great reset, because it's important for us to think about what we are doing to make sure that that person who came to work yesterday is going to come back tomorrow.
