What if the "great resignation" could become the "great re-boarding"?

After 18 months of #lockdownlife, companies are trying to navigate this new world where hybrid working is the norm, employees now expect certain levels of flexibility, and office working is being redefined. 

In the world of talent, we are constantly being reminded that the "great resignation" is coming... (yup, well so is Christmas, no shock there) but what if the doom and gloom picture that is being portrayed where there is mass exoduses out of employers, is actually presenting an opportunity that is usually only reserved for new joiners.

What if we took this as an opportunity to turn the "great resignation" into the "great re-boarding"? Now stay with me here on this track and I'll explain my thinking...... 

We know that when new employees join organisations we spend the time and care showing them the best in our company and our people, trying to re-enforce that they made the right decision, aren't we awesome, and what a great place this is to work.....but what if we did this with our existing people as a way of coming out the other side into a new post pandemic work world?

What if we made the old, feel new again?

The first 90 days in a new employees working experience is critical in forming bonds and ties to not only the role, but the workplace as a whole, its culture, and to build a sense of belonging, so I think this ideology could be applied to our existing employees as a way of helping them to re-assimilate back into work.

By taking a re-boarding approach, this also provides companies with the opportunity to redefine their workplaces, their culture, their expectations on their employees and really co design a work experience that re-engages their workforce.

Re-board your existing employees.....

I'll say that again.... what if you re-boarded your existing employees?

Now I'm not talking about spending 3 days (if you are lucky) battling new IT systems and technology set-ups, but what I am talking about is going through the organisation's mission and objectives, spending the time building and re-building connections across the company, weekly/bi-weekly touch points, (this should be a given anyway.. and if its not... you deserve to have your employees leave) and reminding them that they still have a great workplace, and that they are highly valued. 

They say the reason for this great resignation coming is that employees have almost seen the light in a sense, where they have gone through something fundamentally universe shifting being the pandemic, and it has shown them that time is short, and they want to work on things that matter, have a greater sense of work-life balance, pursue their passions, put their families first, chase their dreams, and stop putting up with things that no longer serve them... and yup.... that starts with their careers.

Employees are re-evaluating what work means to them, and how to get a greater sense of fulfilment and joy in the work they do, and who they align themselves to and employers, if they are astute, will see this as an opportunity to review themselves through their employees eyes, and ask the question.... "if I were a new employee, would I want to stay here?" 

We shouldn't just reserve the red carpet onboarding experience for new employees, if anything, it should show us this is the standard we should have set for ALL employees and understand that employees from time to time, need to be re-boarded, and re-engaged, and re-ignited, so that they feel valued and fulfilled.

So what could this look like? Well, here are some ideas, but really it comes down to how do you want to make your employees feel? Start there, and the rest will come!

• Facilitate a discussion on career goals and objectives - there is a good chance this would have changed in a post-pandemic world
• Ask what the employee needs from you as their leader, and as an organisation right now? This could be support to go see long separated family, this could be a redefined work pattern? Don't just assume if they are back, they are fine.
• Go back to a buddy system - now this isn't someone to show them the ropes of the organisation - no this is about increasing company connections and making your employees feel seen and heard, and that they have support - we have been starved of connection for 18 months.... they need it re-built
• Take time to redefine your company EVP (employee value proposition). Everything has changed since covid, including how you operate as an organisation. Review who you are as an organisation, what you are about, and what makes your employees happy. Not only will this resonate internally, but this provides competitive advantage externally when trying to recruit top talent
• Flexibility is now a given, think about how your employees perform their roles and where possible, think about if there is an opportunity to do some job re-design work and see how work can be performed in a different/better way

Now this list can be endless, so by no means are the above points exhaustive so think about what your new employee on-boarding experience looks like, and then think about how you can adopt this to a re-boarding experience.

We always say there is a silver lining to every situation, so maybe for talent, this is ours. As we know, the best attraction strategy in the current market is retention.. so don't waste it.

As always, would love to hear what you think, and especially how you are keeping your employees engaged, and attracting top talent, so leave some comments below to keep the conversation going!

J. xx