3 ways to flip The Great Resignation on its head

It’s no secret that COVID-19 has triggered an enormous amount of career movement, globally.

Last year, the US reported 33 million resignations, deeming it ‘The Great Resignation’. The Australian workforce is no different, with people changing jobs up by 26 per cent in October 2021, compared with the same month in 2020. 

This has, in turn, resulted in an employees’ market with more and more vacancies becoming available; a lack of available talent sparking businesses to rethink how they attract and retain people in their organisations.  

According to the Tech Council of Australia, the technology sector alone will require an additional one million people by 2025 to meet talent demand. Upskilling and reskilling are paramount to achieving this. But to do so, we must be able to develop our people by bridging the gap between learning and career growth. 

Internal talent pipeline

If your first intention when hiring is not to look internally, then there is something wrong. Organisations with internal movement opportunities see people double their tenure and since COVID-19, internal hires have made up a greater share of all hires. I can attest to this trend as I’ve seen 21 per cent of Interactive’s workforce move internally – secondments, promotions, lateral movements etc. – since July 2021 alone.

By not leading with this intention, you stand to demotivate your people, as well as incur the financial and cultural cost of losing them, their invaluable skills, and intellectual property to another company.

Invest in your leaders

To be successful, your leaders must have the skills to inspire and support their people’s career growth. Today’s leader needs the expertise to hold quality career conversations, provide coaching, and to enable connections across the business so that their people can gain the right experience to progress their career. This is not something every leader is innately good at, so providing all leaders with the tools to coach their people is invaluable, particularly as we work in an increasingly virtual world. 

Their responsibility then becomes very clear, to nurture your company’s future talent and be the best place to work and grow.  

The great opportunity

And finally, the Association for Talent Development reported that companies providing employee training opportunities receive 218 per cent more revenue from each employee and their profits are 24 per cent higher compared to those that save on training. From a business perspective, the statistics are persuasive, and the impact of COVID-19 has forced organisations to take a deeper look at their talent strategy. It’s no longer enough to just provide learning opportunities on their own. We have to be able to provide access to on-the-job experience that helps translate this learning into career growth. 

Talent is no longer limited to a 25 KM radius of the office or over dependency on public transport. By bridging this gap between learning and career growth, organisations can flip The Great Resignation on its head and capitalise on ‘The Great opportunity’, to find quality talent anywhere, and from any sector.

Organisations with the right attitude, foresight, and innate adaptability can grasp this opportunity with both hands, make diversity and innovation a reality and give people the careers they want.

Fast facts | Interactive’s people trends

• • 99% of Interactive’s people have documented development plans

  • Since July 2021, 21% of Interactive’s workforce has moved internally

  • 25% of Interactive’s current employees have stayed for more than five years, a third of whom had role changes during this time

  • In the past year, Interactive has had an 85% increase in hiring of Gen Y and Gen Z