Tired of hearing about the great resignation? Is the strain to find good talent too much in this tight job market? Will the great resignation undo what you have built for the last several years? These worries can be a challenge.

You’re not alone.

Every other 7-figure business owner on the planet is experiencing the same challenges of hiring and retaining talented employees in this unprecedented job market.

A favorite topic of mine is to talk about all of the profits that go up in flames when business owners make a bad hire. Now, many business owners are seeing their profits burn up because good people are leaving.

In an article for Morning Brew, author Neil Freyman had this to share:

“In what’s been dubbed the ‘Great Resignation,’ 4 million people, or 2.7% of US workers, quit their jobs in April. That’s a record going back to 2000. In all, 41% of workers globally are considering leaving their current employer this year, according to a survey from Microsoft.

Why? Experts have floated several explanations to interpret all the quitting:

• Workers who didn’t like their jobs but stuck with it during the pandemic are…not sticking with it anymore.
• Many are retiring early after cashing in on a booming stock market and rising home values.
• People have reevaluated their career paths after an “unprecedented” year which allowed for more reflection.
• In that same vein, people might be looking for a job that allows for better work-life balance.

However, the main reason employees are quitting their jobs en masse, Harvard economics professor Jason Furman argues, is simpler: There are a record number of job openings in the US right now (9.3 million), and in any economy where lots of jobs are available, people leave their existing roles for greener pastures.”

So…what do we do about it?

While every person’s employment decisions may be motivated by different things, one thing is abundantly clear… you don’t want to get stuck in a transactional mindset to combat any retention problems you may be having.

I mean, sure, you could double everyone’s wages in an attempt to keep them (IF you have enough profit to do that), but that wouldn’t really address the issue. For decades, experts have verified through multiple studies that pay is NOT the number one consideration for people when they choose to accept (or leave) a job.

Now, I’m not saying that pay isn’t important. You have to make sure all of your people are getting a fair wage and that your best people feel like you are providing adequate financial rewards today for the great results they are producing AND can see a path to additional growth opportunities.

If you haven’t already begun to feel it, the cost of turnover is not only real, it is really HIGH! While the actual costs vary based on type of role and how difficult it is to find a replacement (among other variables), between the direct and indirect costs, estimates for the cost of turnover can reach as high as 2-3x the annual salary for the role that was vacated.

Is this familiar?

Amy Trickett, one of our long-time Elite Momentum members, posted this on our private Facebook group the other day: “Feeling frustrated I had 3 letters of resignation in 2 days. Trying to build something here but can’t if the bottom is falling out. Beefing up pay structure and PTO and still experiencing this. How do we get loyalty? Despite extensive career development they still are going. They are acknowledging that we grew their skills immensely and our training is what made them eligible for these opportunities that they are taking! We have a 4.9 rating on Glassdoor. Now I am afraid to answer messages and emails. Stop the bleeding!!!”

If you consider the high cost of turnover, making sure your best people are paid enough to stay is probably in your best interest.

However, don’t let pay be the only lever you pull to get through a potential talent crisis. Here are a few other levers I highly recommend you utilize to not only keep your people in the seats, but to engage them at a level that they start to become part of your talent tractor beam to bring other great talent to your business.

The most powerful lever of them all to beat the great resignation…Purpose.

People want to do work that matters. Whether you call it your Purpose, your Why, your Passion or Your Cause or you talk about it in terms of the meaning or impact your business is having on the world, most people want more in life than to simply collect a paycheck. You need to tap into the power of Purpose and help the right people connect with the reason your business deserves to have life.

“When people are financially invested, they want a return. When people are emotionally invested, they want to contribute.” – Simon Sinek

I found some interesting claims from a group called TTI Success Insights (ttisi.com). They posted the following stats:

“Employees who feel a strong sense of purpose when working are more…

• Satisfied with their job 88%
• Engaged 83%
• Productive 89%

Interestingly, employees who feel a sense of purpose feel less stress and fatigue. Only 39% of employees who feel purpose are stressed or tired more than half the time.”

At Elite Entrepreneurs, we’ve worked with hundreds of 7-figure business owners over the last 10 years. Our absolute favorite moment is when a business owner and their key team members unlock the power of Purpose in their business. It changes everything. The business is no longer simply a revenue and profit generating mechanism. Every time a business articulates a meaningful Purpose, it becomes the guiding star for everything they do in that business from that point forward.

Progression

The second retention lever I want to talk about is progression. The best people want to grow.

Henry Ford said, “The only thing worse than training your employees and having them leave is not training them and having them stay.”

Richard Branson said something similar. He said, “Train people well enough so they can leave. Treat them well enough so they don’t want to.”

One of the best things I learned from Zappos was to break up traditional progression into multiple, smaller steps.

1. Relationships matter – with their leader and with others they work with. If they feel connected to the people on your team, they are more likely to enjoy their work and less likely to leave.
2. Flexibility is HUGE! If you can learn to get really clear about what is expected in the role, how it will be measured and how it aligns to company goals (how the role contributes to the whole), you can be very flexible on how/when/where the work takes place.

Going Beyond the Transactional Relationship

“We surveyed over 15,600 global workers. Only 60% of people feel supported by their employer since the pandemic began.” Kelly Monahan, Ph.D., Talent Research Lead Senior Principal at Accenture Research

Ending with the best for last…you have to care about people as people and get beyond the transactional employment relationship of the past. You need to get as close as you can to your best people, find out how they are doing (what their needs and wants are), and make sure you give them sufficient reason to stay.

The truth is that most people don’t want to go through the disruption of switching jobs unless there is something about working in your business that they absolutely dislike or they feel like their needs aren’t being met. Go find out what those things are and create a place where the right people want to work.

“[Some] say that being in a pandemic really opened their eyes to what’s important to them and they’re looking for a job that brings them joy while others say their motivation is all about finding a better work-life balance.”

The silver lining in all of this…

• If you’ve lost some people, apparently, there are a LOT of people looking for greener pastures right now. This is your chance to make any adjustments you need to make to how your business is perceived by the best talent.
• Also, people who are leaving can be a great source of learning. Ask and then listen carefully to what they tell you about the things that could be better in your business and about improvements you could make in your leadership.

Some examples of places to find gig/freelance workers to complete projects include Upwork, Freelancer, Guru, and Fiverr.

Read More: The Great Resignation of 2021: A Mass Exodus at Workplaces | https://wnbf.com/the-great-resignation-of-2021/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral

“When people are financially invested, they want a return. When people are emotionally invested, they want to contribute.” – Simon Sinek

If you’d like to learn more strategies that can help you break through the revenue plateau and fuel the further growth of your organization, I encourage you to explore our extensive library of past episodes of the Elite Entrepreneurs podcast filled with informative interviews with business leaders and experts at https://growwithelite.com/podcast/.