Manager giving feedback to employee.
Last year, millions of Americans lost their jobs or were furloughed due to the pandemic-triggered recession. As the economy slowly reopened, many returned to their jobs. But perhaps surprisingly, many did not. Experts cited several Covid-related reasons behind “The Great Resignation,” including concerns about the safety of returning to the office and the ongoing difficulty of finding child care. Now, a new survey suggests a different reason for a historically high quit rate in 2021—and an opportunity for progressive-minded business leaders.
The survey, conducted by the experience management firm Explorance, finds that an overwhelming majority of employees want to share feedback with their employers and that this desire is driven by the hope of instilling positive change in the workplace. However, employees feel that feedback goes unheard and does not lead to meaningful change. Moreover, half of the employees report receiving no surveys (the preferred means of providing feedback) during the past year.
The survey finds that 41% of all employees are looking for a new job—and a staggering 53% of Millennial employees. The bad news is that employees continue to be restless and keep their options open. The good news is that employers that actively solicit and act on employee feedback will have a clear competitive advantage over their peers.
A “Great Awakening”?
Perhaps we should not be viewing The Great Resignation as a negative, as a rejection. Manuel Pastor of the University of Southern California suggests this shake-up is a positive development, the emergence of an economy “based more on mutuality,” and in which business owners are more attuned to the well-being of their employees.
Leaving your job can be seen as an act of optimism, and the survey backs up that interpretation. It finds that 78% of employees are “eager” to provide feedback to their employers. And 98% usually or sometimes take the time to respond to open-ended questions in surveys.
MORE FOR YOU
Employees are optimistic about the economy. They have high expectations for a meaningful work experience. And they have ideas about how to make their organizations a great place to work and want to share those ideas.
Listen, be transparent, and act on employee feedback
Wise business leaders will embrace the high expectations of today’s employees as an opportunity to engage them in a dialogue about how to reinvigorate workplace culture. Unfortunately, too many employers do not appear interested in listening. Nearly half (45%) of employees do not believe their feedback leads to meaningful change. This includes 40% of executives surveyed.
If employees are willing to be candid and honest in their assessment of workplace culture (and over 80% are), employers must, in turn, be frank and transparent about the findings of their employee surveys. However, too many employers do not seem to get it. And skepticism about transparency even extends to those executives surveyed: 56% say they never see the results of feedback surveys, and 67% say they only see some of the results.
Employers who are not interested in employee feedback ignore the increased leverage employees have in today’s economy. And they are passing up the opportunity to partner with those employees to revive and reinvent the workplace.
Today’s empowered employee
The increased leverage and bargaining power employees are enjoying is not going away anytime soon. According to a new Glassdoor report on likely workplace trends in 2022, this year provided only a glimpse into “permanent shifts” in the workforce and labor market.
“The tight labor market is likely to stay with us sometime, empowering employees to demand more of their employers. Employees will use their newfound power to seek out more information about their companies and their industries and use that information to push their employers to do better.”
“Employers have little control over what employees want,” the report continues. “But they can get ahead of the curve by recognizing that many employees are looking not just for a job, but for a career and a community.”
A healthy feedback loop drives great culture
Smart business leaders will not be threatened by today’s newly empowered employees or by their heightened expectations. They will instead engage them as partners in an ongoing dialogue about making their company a great place to work.
I frequently discuss healthy feedback loops with my executive coaching clients. Feedback must always be a two-way conversation. If you want your employees to hear your feedback about their performance and follow your vision for the organization, you must be willing to listen to and act on their ideas. Employees will tell you what they need in order to thrive.
The “new normal” of work is undergoing a fundamental shift. It is a work-in-progress, and your employees are your eyes and ears as to where change is headed. Regard them as a resource—as a source of ideas, not just a source of labor.
To view today’s tight labor market as a “labor shortage” is to adopt a scarcity mindset. The real shortage is one of vision. The future is full of possibilities for far-sighted business leaders who partner with their employees to reinvent workplace culture.
