When Great Is Not Great
Gallup has recently completed a comprehensive survey in the United States revealing that our workplaces have moved from the era of the Great Resignation to the Great Detachment. Australian workplaces should take heed.
The term the Great Detachment refers to employees who are holding back in changing jobs due to economic conditions and are instead left feeling stuck with discontent.
There are five key contributors:
Rapid transformation because of COVID: Employees have experienced an unprecedented amount of disruption and change. Change fatigue is real.
Hybrid and remote growing pains: Employers continue to wax and wane on their position when it comes to supporting flexible work. The research did reveal that fully remote workers are consistently less connected to their organisation’s purpose and direction as compared to their hybrid colleagues.
New customer expectations: Changes in customer expectation since the pandemic has shifted markedly, they are more demanding particularly around the digital experience.
New employee expectations: COVID instigated a movement where employees reevaluated what they wanted from their career and employer. Work life balance remains a top priority. There is a mismatch happening in this space as we return to ‘normal’.
Broken performance management practices: Interestingly most leaders have little confidence in their performance management systems. Without a reliable way to set expectations, recognise achievement and develop employees, leaders and employees are in a murky space.
So where does your workplace sit when it comes to these five considerations?
Here are two suggested strategies to pull back from the Great Detachment.
Reset Expectations and Priorities. You don’t need a whiz bang performance management system to have a 1:1 and team-based discussion about expectations and organisational priorities. The conversation is fundamental. I think I can count on one hand people I have worked with over the years that enjoy (might be too strong a word!) working in an opaque environment. Documenting the discussion is something you can create.
Connect Individual Contributions to Purpose: Connecting an individual’s work to the higher purpose of the organisation is a powerful motivator. The person sees why their work matters. Understanding what motivates the individual at their core is another powerful tool (the Why of You PRINT model is perfect for this piece).
Did you know that improving the connection between employees jobs and the mission or purpose of their organisation can lead to a 32% reduction in turnover and a 15% improvement in productivity? ((Gallup, Q12 meta-analysis, 2024)
The above insights and strategies are being shared so you can initiate a meaningful conversation with your team and you have a fighting chance of your workplace not sleep-walking into an unwanted “great” experience.
And by the way, Compose provides team-based workshops that uncover every individual’s core motivators, enabling connection to organisational purpose. If you would like to know more, feel free to email or make a time for a quick call by using the link below.