The Great Resignation is a Talent Emergency: Here’s How to Deal With It

Call it whatever you want. The Great Resignation, The Big Churn, The Great Reshuffling, the name doesn’t matter. What matters are the facts, and the facts say that employees are, and have been leaving their positions in droves. 

This change isn’t just affecting any specific demographic group either. Employees between the ages of 30 and 45 have seen the greatest increase in resignation rates (up 20% between 2020 and 2021). But employees 25-29 and those 45+ also saw an increase in resignation rates.

Pretty much the only demographics that haven’t been leaving their positions left and right are the extremely young (they are simply not getting hired and/or applying for jobs) and senior citizens (they’re just retiring). 

The effects of this shift can’t be understated. Companies have been trying to revamp their talent acquisition and employee retention strategies on the fly. They’ve been in survival mode, but there’s more to consider than just staying afloat. How do you deal with the aftermath of such a shift? 

Understand What Happened

In order to properly prepare for the aftershocks and changes occurring due to the Great Resignation, you’ve got to really work through what happened. It’s not as simple as people leaving their jobs. That’s just the first domino. 

People were locked down and couldn’t go anywhere. They had time and opportunity to reevaluate their lives, their jobs, and everything in between. At the same time, most businesses either had to stop hiring or let people go. They were also doing a lot of evaluating (at least the good ones were). 

Some businesses rose to the challenge. Their leadership took over, steadied the ship, evaluated processes, and kept everyone’s heads above water. Employees watched these changes and were either impressed and decided to stay on board, or they decided it was time to move on. 

Many of these employees simply didn’t know where else to turn. They were struggling with work in a global pandemic. They also had to take care of their families and worry about maintaining their mental health. All of these factors coming on so strong, so fast made everyone reconsider. That’s what led to the Great Resignation.

Grasp The Hiring Surge

So now we’ve got a lot of people who are willing to work, who also recently left their job with no next employer in mind. We also have a lot of companies who lost employees and have reorganized their business to try and become more modern. What’s that lead to? 

It leads to a hiring surge the likes that I’ve never seen in my over 3 decades in this business. There was pent-up demand and businesses were ready to hit the ground running as soon as the pandemic restrictions began to loosen up. When the supply is diminished, the demand is high. So prices for hiring were skyrocketing. 

Here at Reveal Global, we’re a non-traditional recruiting firm. We don’t do placement fees because it encourages bad behavior and bad alignment between candidates, recruiters, and companies. We’ve got nothing to gain or lose if clients want to pay more to the people they hire, so we don’t wield any influence in that regard. Even in this position, we’re seeing bidding wars that are absolutely unprecedented. 

So how do you compete in this new, hyper-competitive hiring market? 

Up Your Hiring Game 

Creating powerful appeal to the talent you want to hire is not as simple as you might like, but there are some strategies that can help you get started. First things first, you need to focus on your employer brand. A strong employer brand can go a long way to getting your foot in the door with the best candidates. 

Remember, a lot of the best candidates out there have landed a new position in the past year or so. It’s going to take a lot to get them to move again. But some name recognition and a strong employer brand can make their ears perk up. 

How do you strengthen that employer brand? Here are some techniques: 

• Incumbent Interviews: Learn what worked in the hiring process for your current employees
• Video Job Descriptions and Cultural Insights Videos 
• Candidate Microsites: Personalized microsites with information that appeals directly to candidates 
• Make sure your brand matches reality: servant leadership, trust, integrity, dignity
• Make sure you’re addressing your employees’ real concerns 

Lastly, you need to coach candidates through the past couple of years. Many of them feel lost, confused, or they may have regrets about their recent career decisions. You should be a voice of support and guidance to help them work through those emotions. 

We’re coming out of a difficult period, but you can find the tools to succeed. The hiring market is in a state of turmoil and will be for the foreseeable future but vigilance is key. If you understand how we got here and really take stock of everything that has occurred, you can update your strategies to accommodate the needs of candidates. 

You’ve got to compete, but you need to lead with your values. Lead with your employer brand. There’s no reason to hide or obfuscate because everyone has been through a lot. Candidates will trust you more if they can feel real sympathy, understanding, and vulnerability. 

We’re in a Talent 911. It’s a five-alarm fire, a real emergency. But with the 411, the right information, and tools at your disposal, you’ll be just fine. 

For help landing the best talent on the market, visit www.revealglobal.com!