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Has a member or members of your team recently called it quits?
Are you worried that you don’t have the resources to hit the ground running this year?
Feeling stressed at the thought of carrying the load?
As a small business owner, now 12 years running my firm, I’m more accustomed to staff ebbs and flows than when my first staff members departed. In 2021 I had an engaged, loyal and committed team. We had complete trust in each other and Harvest’s “One Team” value continued to be highlighted as a principal value we lived and breathed, month after month.
Towards the end of 2021 our Executive Officer left for maternity leave and we wished her well as she embarks on a new chapter and new beginnings.
But over the summer holidays, things turned.
A Harvest loyal and advocate resigned. She was someone who was aligned with our culture and values, loved her part-time, hybrid work/life balance, had flexibility around family on school holiday plus a spot when desired in the office with our stunning views (all the trimmings that Employers of Choice offer). She gained a Talent Acquisition role in industry, too good to refuse over Christmas and blindsided me with an immediate resignation straight after the Boxing Day holiday. This was swiftly followed with our Candidate Engagement Manager shifting away from the region – a resignation in the first working week of 2022. As a boutique firm with a close knit team, it was rapid fire resignations. The “Great Resignation” had begun and I was a casualty.
I have had many peers that called just before Christmas with similar stories of departures and resignations. We have assisted some revitalise their team already while we are working with other organisations who also witnessed key team member departures just prior to or after the Christmas break.
Don’t Panic!
Before you look to overhaul your Employee Value Proposition (EVP) or the Employee Experience (EX) let’s look at a valid reason resignations happen, the opportunity these resignations present and the process to keep the momentum going to source and fill the vacancies that remain.
Employees Leave Employers – FACT
To put things into perspective remember that many employees will stay for the time it suits them. It may not be you, their manager, the company, the employment offering, the values or the culture that is behind their shift. It’s just “their time”.
Many employees have honed skills in these last two years with COVID and been provided stability and security to do so. However, as the market shifts, the war for talent is fierce. Your employees are going to have opportunities that beckon and, quite frankly, there is not much you can do to keep them. This is particularly true if you’ve kept tabs on what employees want from their workplace and work today and adjusted the employment offering accordingly.
Determine your Workforce Required to Deliver on Organisational Strategy
Organisations evolve. You can look at your recently departed members and critique, were they aligned with where your organisation is going? Did they have the capabilities needed to deliver?
This is the opportunity to really hone your strategy or business plan and determine who is required in the organisation to assist you steer and push in the direction you are heading.
I was fortunate. I had looked at elements of the business in the last quarter of last year and made offers to appropriate individuals to support the strategy moving forward and I had already lined up a Virtual Assistant, Office Manager and Industry Engagement Manager – all onboarding as we speak. These all feed into the plans we have for the business moving forward.
Blank Canvas Benefits
Many managers have to tolerate, motivate or, worse, performance manage those staff that aren’t engaged in the business.
Your resignations show that your staff, for one reason or another, were not for you. Their decision may have saved you hard work down the track.
Instead of wondering what to do with those team members be thankful that they have opted out. You can focus on those individuals that will truly add value, fit with the culture and who are keen to work in the employment scenario you offer.
Getting Back on Track
- Remember to Put You & Your Team as Priority No. 1
If you look to pick up the service pieces you or your team members were working on yourself without focussing on who will do the work into the future, this is the fastest approach to burn-out. You may punch out deliverables now but you will face medium to long-term deficiencies in your business/division if you don’t fill the gap.
Like parents in case of an emergency, need to fit their oxygen mask first, you too need to focus on getting back on track, then readdress deliverables from your team and division.
2. Revisit Team Members and Capabilities
Look at who has gone and who is left. Is there career development opportunities for those that remain. Can you adjust responsibilities and position descriptions to hone the strengths of current team members. I have often carved up a role when team members depart and developed new positions for prospective employees that present themselves when I go to market.
3. Think Creatively
Remember that War for Talent quote? This means there are very few active job-seekers in the market right now and you will need to address other means by which to add to the team.
Consider Your Network
The hidden job market is where jobs open and are placed without going to market. In a candidate short market, advertising is no longer generating the talent that may be best for your division or organisation. Take time to consider all those people that have come across your path over the years; the skills, the talents they have. Jot down a list and reach out to them. If you have lost their number – jump onto social media or google them. The vast majority of individuals have a digital footprint (in professional world this is LinkedIn) and you will find them. Reach out and see where they’re at. You never know. I was fortunate. My new year resignation was immediately replaced with a more experienced individual who I called out of the blue and who was ready for their next challenge. Not only did I find someone but someone who can professionally represent Harvest and train and mentor newer team members.
Outsourcing – when a role can be done by a service provider, have them fill the hole which will give you time to effectively go through the process of determining what it is you want and need. Most common disciplines will include Accounting and Bookkeeping, IT, Graphic Design, Marketing, Legal, even HR and Engineering can be outsourced to professional providers.
Subcontract – many a time this year my company has been asked to place individual contractors with employers to give them the time to recruit their full-time employee. Our contractors have spanned Administration, Finance, Engineering, Marketing, Safety, Governance and HR roles as our clients have looked to make permanent hires. The contractor is the stop gap and in some cases, can become the permanent staff member.
With this in hand, take a breath and be confident that your team, your division, or company will come back stronger than ever.
As for me, I can’t wait to introduce you to our team that will deliver on our ambition “To be the region’s most trusted end to end HR services firm”.
