There are so many conversations going on about attrition/resignation and here is one from McKinsey’s @Bonnie Dowling that frames the sentiment and possible solutions concisely.
40% of employees are somewhat likely to leave their job
This sentiment applies across all position levels in the organization with hospitality and retail industries facing the brunt
With generational distribution in the workforce, there are five broad personas – these are broad categorizations, and most people would move between multiple personas:
The traditionalists – looking for a traditional job; lower risk tolerant dependable; looking for a career path – in essence great employees – unfortunately, there are fewer of these people!
The do-it-yourselfers – dabbling in the gig economy such as working on a side job; want to own their career path – mostly 25–45-year old’s – need to prove that the manager is a better boss then themselves!
Idealists – mostly recent graduates; looking to pursue their passion in life; strong need for work life balance
the caregivers – mostly women with family obligations such as kids or elderly parents; need flexibility
the relaxers – mostly recent retirees; looking for purpose, to leave a legacy
The common traits across all these personas are flexibility, compensation, development, and purpose
Thoughts on how to address hiring and retention – four different levers
The first two are ongoing:
Attracting talent – different offerings for different personas
Retain existing talent – create a culture that makes it sticky for them to leave
The second two are long term plays:
Looking at long term partnerships with community organizations, schools, etc., to increase the supply of workers
Reduce the number of workers needed and change the way that work is being done (through automation) so that it reduces the need for people
Of course, this is the part where I politely point out that automating routine and repetitive tasks helps give more meaningful purpose to staff at all levels and alleviates the stress of filling open positions. We’ve gone live with a few new projects recently where I’m most proud of that result.
Here is the full link to the detailed article: