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The Great Resignation: 6 Steps for Gaining Control

Inc. Magazine recently reported that between April and September of 2021, more than 15 million workers left their jobs in what is being called The Great Resignation. It’s possible that your organization has been immune to this trend; but whether it has been or not, there are key, practical, timely steps you can be taking right now to reduce or prevent undesirable turnover in your company.

I started using this process in a client location years ago when it was experiencing a 30+% annualized turnover. The client liaison wanted me to help plan and implement cross functional work teams in the location because the locations I worked in inherently experienced lower turnover and higher employee satisfaction. But this location was a mess, and I knew we had to stabilize the turnover situation before trying to implement any large-scale change initiative. The process works just as well in the current environment as it did before the COVID pandemic.

How to Make Accountability Compassionate

In recent months, we’ve heard more about compassionate leadership than ever before. We’re 18 months into a horrible pandemic experience, and we’re still juggling remote, hybrid, and office-based work. Many organizations have delayed their Return to Work plans. Employees – from executive leadership to front-line employees in client organizations – tell me they are zoomed out and burned out, and many have experienced tragic situations.

At the same time, the work goes on and we need to meet deadlines and goals. Managers I talk to understand the need for compassion and coaching employees through the continuing difficult time, but they struggle to balance that against accountability when getting results is vital. How can managers strike this balance to make accountability compassionate?

4 Emerging Models for Return to Office

In recent weeks, many organizations have developed their strategies and plans for the “Return to Work”(RTW) or “Return to the Office”(RTO), a large percentage of which have created hybrid work plans. The plans are in response to research that shows employees want flexible work and on average want to work remotely three days a week. Additionally, research indicates that a large percentage of employees will go elsewhere if employers do not provide significant flexibility. [Read more…]

Must Flexible Work be Hybrid?

Over the past couple of months, I have been helping clients develop strategies and plans for the “Return to Work”(RTW) or “Return to Office” (RTO). Many employers want their employees to return to the office, believing the office environment is an integral part of their cultures. However, more than half of employees want to work from home three days per week, and recent research indicates that employers may very well lose those employees if they don’t provide flexible, hybrid work. [Read more…]

Zoomed Out? A Meeting Strategy for Hybrid Work

I think it’s safe to say that many of us are still “Zoomed out” from the pandemic. I certainly am. And I cannot begin to count the number of times in the last year when I heard someone say, “that Zoom meeting could have been an email” or “that meeting should have been a phone call.” As many organizations develop and implement hybrid plans as part of the “Return to Work,” we have an opportunity to re-set–to plan and implement meeting strategies that respect employees’ time and energy.