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“The Great Resignation”

January 3, 2022

Season 3, Episode 1

The Hackett Group Senior Research Director Tony DiRomualdo talks with Chief HR Officer Harry Osle about “The Great Resignation,” what is driving it and what companies can do to address issues relating to hiring and retention in today’s changing market.

Show Notes

Welcome to the Hackett Group’s Business Excelleration Podcast, where – week after week – we hear from experts on how to avoid obstacles, manage detours, and celebrate milestones on the journey to world-class performance. This episode of the podcast is hosted by the Hackett Group’s Senior Research Director Tony DiRomualdo. His guest today is Harry Osle, Chief HR Officer and Global Leader of the HR Executive Advisory program at Hackett.

The topic for today’s discussion is the great resignation. As we all know, people are leaving their workplaces, and some even the entire workforce, at an unprecedented rate. To begin, Harry shares some of his own observations as a CHRO and advisor at Hackett. He believes these resignations and high turnover rates are an outcome of what he deems “the great introspective.” Over the last two years, people have had the chance to really ask themselves if they are doing what they truly love. Many are realizing that they are not, and are deciding to do something different.

Once people have the opportunity to experience the hardships of personal business, Harry expects we will begin to see some returning to the traditional workforce. As the variants go away and life becomes more normal, the pendulum will shift back as well. However, we will never be back to where we were before. For many organizations, remote work is here to stay.

Many employers have found themselves at a complete loss in terms of how to attract and retain a workforce. Currently, there are more positions open than there are people to fill them. This is putting tremendous pressure on the entire recruiting pipeline, from attracting talent, interviewing them, ensuring they are a right fit and that the onboarding process is efficient.

Next, Harry shares a few ways employers can be more effective in attracting and retaining talent. When it comes to attracting talent, they should do a better job of positioning their brand and ensuring it is out in the marketplace and recognizable. Taking advantage of all job listing and social media sites is very important. Then, they must be timely and efficient with the interview process. This involves ensuring you have the right interview questions, process and interviewers. At that point, it’s very important to ensure that you have an efficient and impactful hiring process. Make sure new hires understand all of the capabilities they are provided for learning new things, developing themselves and growing their careers with you. Remember that while you are hiring someone, you are also marketing to them. Finally, make sure a new hire is equipped with the right performance manager, understands their goals and is surrounded with others who will make them successful in their career.

In terms of retaining talent, Harry believes it is all about making sure they understand that the organization is there. It begins with great coaching, mentoring and candid feedback on performance. Because remote knowledge working is here to stay, you must create avenues for employees to reach out to individual and get feedback on how they’re doing. People often leave their employers because they feel disconnected from the organization. If you can address that by making sure they’re engaged and enjoy their work, you will gain respect. Additionally, making sure they have appropriate and impactful compensation and benefits is more important now than ever. The final piece is to provide them with global mobility and other career options after they have held the same position for a while.

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