The Great Resignation… South Africa is not immune
There has been much talk around the Great Resignation, according to Anne Grunow, Chief Human Resources Officer at Fedgroup, and whilst this trend seemingly has a greater impact in countries with lower unemployment rates and greater job opportunities, South Africa is not immune, especially when it comes to highly skilled employees who may be less inclined to favour traditional modes of work.
The Great Resignation
“In South Africa, as we continue to grapple with a massive skills shortage, employers are faced with a large number of people seeking work yet being unable to easily find suitably qualified staff from this seemingly massive pool of potential talent,” emphasised Grunow.
In countries with developed economies, Grunow said the return to the post-lockdown workplace resulted in a greater than usual number of people resigning, using this as an opportunity to leave jobs with which they were previously dissatisfied and seeking opportunities that better aligned with their career aspirations.
“The average employee in South Africa does not have the luxury of being this selective with far fewer options being available, particularly amongst lower paid employees. However, employers cannot ignore this trend, and should constantly evaluate not only pay structures and flexible working arrangements, but their employee value proposition, which should be both compelling and authentic. The employee experience has, over the past decade, become far more important in an employee’s choice of employer, and those who disregard it, will undoubtedly lose talent who have the luxury of finding themselves a better fit,” added Grunow.
Steve Teasdale, Chief People Experience Officer at Discovery mentioned that the war for the best talent was less aggressive during the COVID-19 pandemic, but as we are emerging from this, the market globally (including the financial services industry) has seen an uncharacteristic increase in the number of resignations. Teasdale added that businesses started to see this increase in employee movement towards the end of 2021 and noticed a peak during the half of last year, but it now seems to be stabilising at this higher level. “While South Africa’s context is clearly quite different to many countries worldwide, with macro-economic factors such as high levels of unemployment and cost of capital having a direct impact locally, we have also seen an increase in organisational churn here too for certain skills.”
“Discovery’s own internal research has shown an increase in demand in certain categories such as technology, actuarial and data science skills from the market, but many other roles do look to be stabilising. A particular trend we have observed is the use of South African labour and skills for remote roles in internationally based organisations and this certainly presents us with a new set of opportunities and challenges to ensure we continue to attract and retain the best talent,” continued Teasdale.
Teasdale added that, “we need to be aware that there has been a shift in the influence and power that people have within organisations, particularly among those individuals who either have scarce skills or who are among the top talent. We see this as a positive move towards being more purpose-driven combined with ensuring that we respond with empathy to the realities of a very complex world in which our people live and work today.”
Step in and invest in employees
Grunow said employers should not underestimate the importance of culture, trust, and some of the softer issues in the employment relationship. “Employees were exposed to significant amounts of trauma over the past two years and feeling valued and cared for are high up on the list of priorities. Leaders, now more than ever, should step in and invest in their employees through training and upskilling, and creating a healthy workplace culture where employees feel that they have a purpose, their voice counts, and they are treated with kindness. Employers need to give employees a very good reason to stay.”
Fundamentally, Teasdale said organisations need to interrogate the type of employee experience that is required in order for any organisation to most-effectively deliver its specific strategic objectives. Thereafter, companies can begin to define this for the talent segments or personas needed in the business.
Effectively closing the gap
“Once this is defined, organisations can begin to better understand the level of maturity within the talent pools, so that they can proactively design and experiment on ways to effectively close the gap towards creating a differentiated experience for talent that liberates them to release their potential, thereby simultaneously realising the organisational strategy,” he said.
“If organisations are able to create the opportunities for purposeful, meaningful work experiences where talent can truly grow to reach their true potential, they will have an advantage in retaining and attracting the best talent. However, the biggest challenge for organisations in achieving this will be the development of the mindset shifts which will need to occur amongst an organisation’s leadership so that some of the routines and mental models of the past can be unlearned. Being brave enough to experiment and innovate is extremely important – so is acknowledging that they may need to respond very differently in the current context to achieve new strategic goals in the future,” concluded Teasdale.
Writer’s thoughts
Pandemic-driven changes in work models have created a range of challenges and opportunities, including how best to attract, retain and engage employees and offer people the value and purpose they now expect from work. Do you believe we will continue to see an uncharacteristic increase in the number of resignations? Please comment below, interact with us on Twitter at @fanews_online or email me your thoughts [email protected].
