The Great Resignation Is A Wake-Up Call For Leadership And Team Development
Updated: May 11, 2022
Written by: Reem Borrows, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
With great leadership, comes great responsibility. It might sound nerdy to say that, but it doesn’t make it any less true. Especially in the wake of The Great Resignation that has been in full swing since 2021. Millions upon millions of people have quit their jobs and are still quitting their jobs today. Whether they quit to find other jobs or to finally take a chance at pursuing their own business ideas, this great resignation as it’s being called has become a wake-up call to many businesses in terms of leadership and team development.
People Are Done With Bad Leadership
The COVID pandemic that hit the world in 2020 forced many companies to quickly change how they do business and how their employees conduct their work. It also woke up millions of people to realise there are so many different ways to do business and still have a personal life. Once the shutdowns happened, people either switched to working from home or they lost their jobs, or they were overworked because their employer’s business was considered to be essential.
The problem is that this sudden stressor placed on millions of employers showed their employees their true colors. We do have to acknowledge that there were many businesses that did shine and showed an enormous amount of care to their employees.
However, people that were working under bad leadership with poor team development felt like they had had enough and decided it was time to quit.
After all, why give years of your life to a company or business that doesn’t care to invest back into you and only sees you as an expense, not an asset?
People Want To Work For Great Leaders In Business
Not everyone that has quit during the great resignation quit so they could build their own business. A lot of people simply quit due to bad leadership and wanted to find a business to work for that had better leaders. Even prior to the pandemic, in 2018 Udemy study found that nearly 50% of employees surveyed had quit because of a bad manager, and almost two-thirds believed their manager lacked proper managerial training. Overlay the stress of lockdowns, is it any wonder we have seen the great resignation taking place?
Great leaders have this incredible ability to bring a group of people or co-workers together to accomplish goals for the company while also promoting self-development. People don’t want to work for a “boss” anymore. Leadership has become a top value and characteristic that job candidates look for when they interview for their next job.
They want to know how your leadership team is going to treat them and whether or not you are going to value them as a person rather than a necessary monthly expense to get things done.
The Great Resignation Is Real And Here’s What You Can Do
There is no doubting at this point that the great resignation is real. As stated above, millions upon millions of people quit their jobs last year and continue to do so, for greener pastures of either self-employment or better employment with a new company.
So, what can you do as a business owner during the great resignation?
Evaluate your chain of command, find the “bosses” in your organization, and replace them with leaders, if they cannot be further developed after support to help them become great leaders.
Invest in your team leaders, they are the ones that promote team development.
Let your employees become a part of the innovation process in your company. They are the ones on the “ground floor”, they know what’s broken and needs fixing or what processes/policies are doing more harm than good.
There is a simple and effective way to do a general leadership audit in your business to help you identify the gaps, involve the whole team, making it engaging and meaningful for everyone involved. If you would like to learn more, you can visit dreem.com.au and go to the resource section for related topics and articles. You can also subscribe to our “Leaders Leading Leaders” podcast on Spotify, Google, or Apple, where every Friday many different insights are shared with you.
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Reem Borrows, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Reem Borrows, the founder of Dreem Coaching and Consulting, facilitates change for meaningful growth. For over 20 years, Reem worked in Senior Leadership Roles, leading and developing effective teams and individuals across the areas of Sales, Marketing, and Training. Today, she uses her knowledge and expertise to help people realize their full potential in both business and personal goals. Reem’s authenticity as a leader, her business acumen, mindset development strategies, and her dedication to achieving results are the foundation of her work. She cultivates the principles, strategies, execution plans, and fundamentals of a winning mindset. She has a passion for helping people find their true calling so they can unleash their inner power. Reem focuses on helping her clients grow exponentially with Balance, Focus, and Flow. Her services are the helpful current that pushes clients in the right direction and provides them with the structure they need to make vital progress with results that stick.
