Buckle up, The Great Resignation is heading Australia’s way

Buckle up, The Great Resignation is heading Australia’s way is the title of a podcast on Australia’s Broadcasting Channel. Truth is, I believe the Great Resignation is already here. I am based in Perth, I support clients’ globally. I have seen seismic shifts in the Ways of the Workplace abroad, however here in Perth, not much has changed due to our tight border controls.

We are one of the few states (Western Australia) to have zero community transmission of COVID. That means we:

• Commute to work.
• Wear no masks.
• Have no social distancing.
• Work in the traditional manner of 9-5.

We are in a privileged position to be at the forefront of being able to Change the Ways of Working to get prepared for what is coming.

Yet, I see many organisations in Western Australia still working as if nothing is going to change:

• Managers still have a reluctance of offering flexible work to employees.
• Organisations not preparing their managers for being able to manage remotely; to be able to have meaningful conversations virtually, to be able to motivate a team remotely, to be able to allocate work based on outputs rather than 9-5 hours, to utilise the technology on offer etc.
• Managers still have a lack of trust and a sense of control over their teams.

We’re missing an opportunity here! Now is the time to:

• Upskill managers on Management 101 so they can address issues, motivate their teams and trust the new way of working effectively.
• Work as a HR team to apply a human centred design approach to the employee life cycle to see what is working and what will need to be changed.

The organisations that are doing well who have worked on the way they will adapt are seeing:

• An engaged workforce who are willing to go the extra mile.
• Managers who trust and empower their teams.
• Fewer people issues.
• Less paranoia about what will happen when the pandemic arrives in Western Australia.

The organisations who have given tokenistic lip service on the way they will adapt are seeing:

• A disengaged workforce which is shown in their culture / engagement survey results.
• An old style of managing which is suffocating employees.
• Many people issues.
• Mistrust from employees about what will happen when the pandemic arrives in Western Australia.
• A high turnover – the great resignation has already started. I have seen many of my past Coachees who are high fliers move on to work for the forward thinking organisations.

So what can you do to be proactive?

Consider taking a bird’s eye view on your employee life cycle and all the touch points that will make or break your workforce’s engagement levels. Here are a couple of examples:

• Recruitment: are you recruiting the traditional way, or have you widened your horizons to recruit from a national / global pool? Are you offering remote work? Imagine the talent you could attract.

• Onboarding: are you utilising the opportunity to build engagement? Do you conduct entry or stay interviews to see what attracted that person to join? What will make them stay? The clients of mine who have put this in place have said they have gleaned great insights and intel from this and are implementing new measures based on the feedback received.

• Learning and Development: are you continuing to offer meaningful development which will aid your organisation in transitioning to be pandemic ready? The organisations who have upskilled their managers NOW, while we are pandemic free are seeing better management practices, which will be translated to whatever our new world of work will be. Are you building your teams via meaningful team development sessions NOW so that they can bond as people and as a team prior to us changing the way we work? The teams I have supported through team development state they are a closer unit with a better understanding of each other and a newfound appreciation of each other’s work styles which has resulted in more cohesiveness, a better team brand and they are ready to work remotely when needed. They know their manager has trust in them.

It is not too late to take proactive steps to get your organisation ready for what is to come in Western Australia. We are in a lucky country with the benefit of being able to see what the world has gone through in order for us not to make the same mistakes as others. 

What are you doing about it? 

Do reach out to me if you would like further ideas on how to be ahead of the game. 

Here’s to great leaders, teams and a workplace that has a good culture whether it be working traditionally or flexibly. It can be done!

Written by Prina Shah.