How to Keep Employees and Encourage a Feeling of Community and Purpose in Them.

Concerned about the mass resignation from today's workplaces are most companies. There are many theories as to why individuals are "the Great Resignation," including desiring higher-paying jobs and more flexibility at work to just being worn out from pandemic burnout. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that over 15 million Americans have departed their employment since April alone. According to a recent study by Microsoft, 41% of employees worldwide may be considering leaving their current positions.

That indicates that 59% of employees are not considering resigning. What can we learn from companies that are managing to keep their staff in this kind of environment?

There was a survey has been conducted with six human resource executives from companies reporting that their organizations are not experiencing higher-than-normal attrition. You can find out if any common patterns shed light on what it takes to retain talent in such a volatile time. Among the many insightful perspectives, three practices appeared to be universal across these companies. (Carucci,2021)

This is what makes employees happy at work, Source- YouTube, TED,2019

Human resource executives emphasize three practices that seem to be common across these companies. Leaders who were determined to stop the tide of talent departures during the Great Resignation may be surprised to learn they're barking up the wrong tree. Create a culture of unity first.

Next, give employees the freedom to co-design their work environment. Lastly, teach your supervisors how to truly care about other people. The author provides multiple approaches for implementing those practices.

Create a culture of unity

Their natural desire for meaning and purpose has been sharply brought back over the past 18 months. Needed to engage in analysis over extended work from home, employees have started to question the significance and worth of their jobs. Furthermore, the pandemic's isolation has made us want genuine belonging even more. According to recent McKinsey research, these two factors are significantly contributing to the current turnover rise. Employees' lack of a sense of belonging at work (51%) and their perception that their labor was undervalued by the company (54%) were the two main reasons for quitting (or considering leaving). An HR professional clarified the significance of both. (Carucci,2021)

They all highlighted how their cultures of cooperation existed long before the outbreak. "If you were caught short and didn't have a purposeful culture," one person stated. And if you were, there isn't a simple solution. Nevertheless, please, don't wait another minute to begin making one.

Their organization has placed a strong emphasis on belonging and purpose as they are interconnected. An organization aims for its members to feel that their actions are significant to both the organization and one another. In addition to feeling fulfilled in their purpose, the organization encourages participants to have a sense of shared purpose. It speaks of it as unity.

What practical things their organizations had done to manifest cultures of solidarity

Make discussing personal goals with your management a regular activity. Genuine organizations incorporate unity into their management procedures, in contrast to many others that are busily purpose-washing their organizations to provide the appearance of meaning. Provide easy-to-implement strategies that instruct managers on how to have meaningful talks with their staff members about how they are doing in terms of achieving their personal or professional goals.

An HR director related an incident of a manager whose team member was a beekeeper on the side. In one-on-one meetings, the manager would regularly inquire, "How's the honey business going?" Taking a genuine interest in a worker's entire life enhances their feeling of identity and self-worth. Smart managers understand that by showing interest in their full employees, you can guarantee that they bring the same inventiveness and energy to their day employment, as opposed to fretting that such personal interests would detract from work efforts. (Carucci,2021)

Demonstrate a purposeful life in action. The way employees relate to the mission of your company is as distinct as the employees themselves. Recognizing when someone lives your organization's goal on a personal level gives great reinforcement and serves as a reminder to other people to act on the same.

Since there was a healthcare [pharmacy] component to this survey, all of the information is patient-related. One of their staff members, whose mother had just passed away from a protracted fight with cancer, volunteered at a nearby hospice and encouraged our corporate philanthropy organization to contribute money to renovate the facility. Indeed, they did. This kind of event occurs frequently in this place. To make its 40,000 employees feel good, their corporate communications team produced a video interview about the story.

For remote workers, emphasize social connections even more. Their feeling of community has been damaged by the isolation of working from home. To encourage a sense of belonging, innovative approaches are needed to link people without contributing to "zoom fatigue." Even worse, working remotely has limited their digital interactions to nearly only the coworkers they collaborate with frequently, further splitting their organizations as they have lost many of the impromptu exchanges that can occur in public meeting spaces. To enable staff members to meet with new coworkers and expand their networks while maintaining a broader corporate view, one company paid for coffee gift cards. (Carucci,2021)

Employees should be involved in creating your workplace.

The McKinsey study mentioned above indicates that many employers erroneously believe that employees' desires for better-paying positions or more flexibility and work-life balance are the main causes of many employee departures. Employers mistakenly believed that certain variables were more significant to employees than other relational factors, such as having teammates they could trust or a sense of belonging. Employers who make poor design decisions about their workplaces can be inviting disaster.

Even while almost 60% of the employees in the McKinsey poll indicated they were not likely to look for work again, this does not mean they will not begin the process. In the upcoming six months, sixty-four percent of employers anticipate that turnover will either remain the same or rise. Hunting talent will also become simpler as more businesses provide remote work options that don't force employees to leave their beloved homes and towns. An HR official made it clear, saying, "They've heard horror stories from their counterparts at other firms failing the transition to hybrid work with unreasonable, one-size-fits-all policies and regulations for needs related to returning to the office. All it accomplishes is to let their staff know that their needs are irrelevant.

This is an opportunity to learn more about your staff members' underlying needs by listening to them. A single mother with little children cannot be subject to the same policies as an older, energetic employee who acts out at home. Setting guidelines for what's best for the company should be done by the organization, leaving local managers with as much latitude as possible to exercise discretion and include their teams in figuring out how to satisfy both the team's demands for flexibility and the company's standards.(Carucci,2021)

These are some specific techniques by which these companies are encouraging their staff to contribute to a positive work environment.

Have flexible policies tied to the business.

Every rule that an organization implements needs to be directly related to the customers it serves. People will likely reject and dislike the organization's WFH policy if it offers little to no flexibility and your fuzzy rationale for insisting that everyone return to the office is that "it's better for their culture if people are physically together." Reduce dissatisfaction by connecting any policies you set up to your customer support, production, and delivery processes, and show how specific types of cooperation are quantifiably improved by in-person work. Promote unity by taking responsibility for policy. Employee adherence is strengthened throughout the company when they feel more ownership over the policies they contribute to creating. Further, when others don’t adhere, peers are more likely to graciously call it out.(Carucci,2021)

Design development into everyday experience.

Rather than creating a "separate" experience for career and professional development, integrate learning and progress into people's responsibilities. A company launched a program called "Walk in their shoes" to foster better ties between staff members who work in different departments. Weekly peer-mentoring meetings involving individuals in related roles who frequently collaborated comprised its format. "Our initial intention was to ensure cross-functional collaboration remained strong despite remote work," the HR official from that organization told me. We hadn't anticipated how much knowledge people would gain from the process, how it would alter how they carried out their professions, or how it would open up unanticipated lateral career pathways.(Carucci,2021)

Building on the unexpected success, they now provide training programs taught by individuals who have completed rotations, as well as the opportunity to job shadow higher-level positions. It's now a standard component of the organization's initiatives for career development.

Teach supervisors the skill of showing genuine concern for people.

One HR executive had emphasized, "If there's anything the last 18 months have taught us, it's how impactful even the smallest acts of kindness can be." The pandemic has increased awareness of our common humanity and provided countless chances to help people in need. However, supervisors may find it uncomfortable or difficult to show concern in the workplace; they may also be unsure of whether to set boundaries. But exhibiting concern doesn't have to be overbearing, and not every worker will want or desire the same level of concern.

"Their people are hurting," reflected another HR director. They're burnt out. Compassion had to immediately become the basis of their leadership. They've given their managers the freedom to help by providing meals to people's homes, helping with daycare, or rent, or just letting someone cry when they're at their lowest. These days, empathy and compassion are essential qualities for leaders. Here are a few strategies to help leaders at all levels perform effectively.(Carucci,2021)

It is also essential to lead by example and demonstrate vulnerability in the workplace so that others feel safe to do the same. Often, people maintain a happy exterior while hiding their difficulties and refusing to accept help, either due to pride or a fear of burdening their teammates. However, when you seek assistance or politely admit when things are tough, it communicates to others that doing so is acceptable. This creates a culture of openness and support, where colleagues can feel comfortable asking for help when they need it.

When asked if they were experiencing higher-than-normal voluntary turnover, 47% of employers responded negatively in the McKinsey study mentioned above. If you find yourself in that fortunate group, remember that things are always subject to change. Discover what it is that draws others to you, then act. Examine more closely why you aren't a member of that group. Change your workplace culture so that employees are excited to come to work there rather than eager to go. Don't just throw money or unstable benefits at the issue. (Carucci,2021)

References

Carucci, R. (2021) To retain employees, give them a sense of purpose and community, Harvard Business Review. Available at: https://hbr.org/2021/10/to-retain-employees-give-them-a-sense-of-purpose-and-community?utm_campaign=hbr&utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkedinnewsletter_manager&tpcc=linkedinnewsletter_manager  (Accessed: 18 November 2023).

TED,2019, This is what makes employees happy at work | The Way We Work, a TED series, YouTube, Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYJ22-YYNW8 , (Accessed: 02 December 2023).