Do Employers Have to Settle for Easy-Come, Easy-Go Employees Now?
The proliferation of remote work has created a unique problem for employees: it’s harder to feel engaged at a new job when you’ve never met your colleagues face-to-face. It’s resulted in an “easy-come, easy-go attitude toward workplaces,” writes The New York Times, with more remote hires “feeling freer to bid adieu to jobs quickly.”
Some employees said the inability to form in-person bonds made them feel detached and question the purpose of their roles, prompting some companies to rethink their corporate culture and hire new leaders to oversee remote work.
So the question is: how do employers link culture, connection and productivity in a positive way?
As the pandemic drags on, more people are beginning and leaving new jobs without once seeing their colleagues face-to-face, leading to an easy-come, easy-go attitude toward workplaces.
Already, more workers have left their jobs during some pandemic months than in any other time since tracking began in December 2000, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In April, a record 3.9 million people, or 2.8 percent of the work force, told their employers they were throwing in the towel. In June, 3.8 million people quit. Many of those were blue-collar workers who were mostly working in person, but economists said office workers who were stuck at home were also most likely feeling freer to bid adieu to jobs they disliked.
“If you’re in a workplace or a job where there is not the emphasis on attachment, it’s easier to change jobs, emotionally,” said Bob Sutton, an organizational psychologist and a professor at Stanford University.
According to the Times, Martin Anquetil, 22, who started working at Google in August last year, never met his colleagues face to face. Google did not put much effort into making him feel connected socially, he said, and there was no swag or other office perks — like free food — that the internet company is famous for.
Mr. Anquetil said his attention had begun to wander. His lunchtime video game sessions seeped into work time, and he started buying basketball highlights on N.B.A. Top Shot, a cryptocurrency marketplace, while on the clock. In March, he quit Google to work at Dapper Labs, the start-up that teamed up with the National Basketball Association to create Top Shot.
If one wants to work at Google and “put in 20 hours a week and pretend you’re putting in 40 while doing other stuff, that’s fine, but I wanted more connection,” he said.
Our own HR expert, Lorein Brightwell., advises employers as follows. “Well shame on Google, or any other company that has no QC (Quality Control). Yes QC in HR is known as accountability. Why would any company pay 40 hours of wages for 20 hours of work—and why would that employee’s manager still be given the responsibility of management. Pandemic or not, the basic principles still apply. No work, no pay. And if you can’t supervise, you’re no longer a supervisor. Grow up, people!
Telecommuting is not new and it wasn’t invented by COVID-19. Employers needing and now encouraging telecommuting must have a written policy outlining expectations, outcomes and resources to the employee; reviewed by an employment attorney; a sign-off by the employee; and a competent supervisor with relevant and engaging accountability tools.
If the issue is you can’t get people to stay because they are bored or see another shiny object that attracts them more than your employment opportunity AND that seems to be a trend. ADAPT! PIVOT! Isn’t that what the ‘Googles’ of the world are known for…or are they going to succumb to insanity by doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome.
The onus is on the employer now, people. It’s a new day, a new and completely unique job pool. You need different bait in this pool and you need to hold accountability as a tried and true standard in all of your business practices. THINK!”
And there you have it. Smart Employers know how to connect their workers with their work and their teams. And the smartest ones KNOW PLB Resources can HELP them with this or any HR situation effectively and get/stay fully in compliance—while building that AMAZING workplace!
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