The Great Resignation is over. Or is it? Was it ever really here? It’s easy to assume that employee churn rises and falls with economic conditions. When there are more vacancies, employees will move around more. When there are fewer vacancies, employees will stick it out for the long haul. And while there is some truth in that, it’s not the whole truth.
In 2021, over 47 million Americans quit their jobs. According to the Harvard Business Review, it was a big increase from 2020—but 2020 was the anomaly. Fewer people left their job because of the uncertainty of COVID-19. 2021’s big increase was actually a return to the norm, a long term trend of more people changing jobs or leaving employment every year. A report from the CIPD shows a similar pattern in the UK: a big dip, a big leap, and slow rise when averaged out.
So yes, there is an obvious effect of supply and demand in the job market. But at the same time, there is a greater, long-term trend of employees willing to hop between jobs, even after a short tenure—and there is far less stigma.
At the (job) hop
It doesn’t seem so long ago that we couldn’t move for how-to guides and thinkpieces on hiring millennials, but the oldest millennials are in their mid-40s now. They’re just as likely to be hiring as being hired.
That means that CVs with a number of different roles in a short period of time are not the red flag that they perhaps once were. They are not signs of flightiness or unwillingness, but simply the norm. They may even be seen as positive.
But turnover has costs. It has literal costs, in the time and money spent advertising roles, reviewing CVs, and interviewing candidates, but it can also mean an unstable working environment, hits on morale, and reduced productivity as colleagues have to cover for staff who have left and new hires get up to speed. One study by Oxford Economics put the cost of replacing a single staff member at £30,614.
And even though job hopping is more common than it once was, turnover can still be a sign that not all is well within an organisation. It’s still possible to reduce employee turnover, through long-term management solutions, effecting changes in workplace culture, and build trust for employees.
Work in any way
While some employees quit the workforce entirely, many leave for better jobs. The most common reasons employees give for leaving their jobs are low pay and a lack of advancement opportunities, with a lack of respect and flexibility not far behind. The best way to arrest this most common type of turnover is to be that better job.
Understanding exactly why employees want to leave is crucial, so it’s important to create an environment where frank conversations can take place between employees and management. It’s standard practice to conduct exit interviews, and while these can help create a better understanding of why turnover is happening, it’s too late to stop individual cases.
Rather than conduct a post-mortem, it’s far better to anticipate the needs of employees by encouraging frequent and honest communication. Retention starts with valuing individual needs and creating a personalised work experience or set of policies that align with those needs. This requires communication.
Of course, communication needs more than just scheduled chats and surveys. There needs to be the right environment, one of “psychological safety”. By demonstrating humility and normalising vulnerability, management can encourage transparent and honest communication within teams and nurture employee confidence. This has added benefits—if employees feel psychologically safe at work, they’re more willing to take risks and create innovative solutions.
Listening to your employees’ needs will undoubtedly reveal the need for flexibility, and that means embracing the future of work and allowing employees to work in any way. This is not a quick or easy change to make. Letting go of old processes is not easy, and means adopting new technologies and adapting to new ways of thinking about the employee experience.
Employees desire autonomy and flexibility and want to feel respected and valued. Reducing attrition means addressing these needs head-on. By giving workers what they want, the ability to work in any way, it’s possible to win their loyalty. Job hopping may be a trend that’s here to stay, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t ways of driving turnover rates down.
