25 Apr Gone for now, or gone for good?

What’s popularly known as the Great Resignation is not inevitable in your organisation. But it will inexorably gain ground if you don’t act knowingly and decisively. Gone for now, or gone for good?, the catchy title of today’s post, is the headline of a March 2022 research paper by Aaron De Smet and colleagues. In this post, I set out how as a leader you can act to prevent disruption and distress.

The pandemic and its social, health and economic consequences have triggered the waves of people leaving their traditional employment. But the causes are multi-faceted and partly self-inflicted by leaders. In the past, voluntary attrition was the result of competition for talent where a worker left their company for greener pastures in another. Now it’s different – and your first step is to truly understand.