We are in a new era of employment opportunities and expectations. The great resignation is merely the result of years of pent-up frustration culminating in this change because individuals had the chance to reflect and, because of an event, the pandemic, was offered the opportunity to make a change.
Research has shown that the shifts are not uniform or ubiquitous but instead reflect distinct patterns of why people are leaving their jobs. While companies attempt to be creative to stunt the change, they continue to miss the real motivation for change in many instances. People are unhappy and do not love what they are doing.
Like any relationship, when you are in love and have a sense of excitement and exhilaration, you do not avoid encountering the other person but gravitate towards them because you feel fantastic. What employees are missing is that direct connection that allows them to love their work. When we are in love with our work, the same chemical cocktail is released and creates this overwhelming sense of belonging and wanting.
Creating a love connection for employees and retaining these employees is a direct relationship. It begins with understanding the individual versus one size fits all. Each relationship will be unique, and linking a person with the elements of work they love is necessary. Like love, one is not expecting that this should be a state that exists for every activity. Still, it should be sufficient enough that the individual can enjoy the feeling sufficiently and appreciate that even the less enjoyable elements are worth the highs.
Seeing the connection between the work and what the employee loves is the leader’s task. Making the connection as cupid may. Helping individuals find that love helps instill trust with the leaders, further cementing the relationship with the work.
For decades now, we have adopted a customer-centric view of what we do to attain success, whereas what we may want to focus on is a human-centric one. This requires us to elevate the importance of employee satisfaction and find a balance between the employee being satisfied while wanting to drive work to meet customer expectations. To keep customers happy, we need happy employees to deliver. This is a fundamental interdependence that exists and is nurtured.
Creating the human-centered approach requires an organization to demonstrate to employees that they are valued from day one. We know with love, at first sight, it will likely be easier to establish and grow this love. The same applies to work. Why not start with the onboarding process to identify what will make the new employee happy and their expectations of growth. If we only knew upfront what it would take to make someone happy in love, we may have tremendous success in relationships. Then, develop a plan for each employee. Invest in their growth and focus on training and education. They may not even know it, but they will appreciate you showing they are valued.
It is necessary to make it personal and, to do so, avoid cookie-cutter standardization for all. Creating stronger teams also increases a sense of belonging and attachment for employees. The significance here is to accentuate how the individual contributes to the team’s success.
Essential from the start is creating trust with the leader. We must make the employee feel valued and deliberately guide, support and help them grow. For the confidence to develop, the employee needs to see the leader’s direct link with their development and love of work. As trust develops in a relationship, the bond between two people grows. Similarly, confidence in the leader helps cement the connection and passion for work.
The solution to developing the trust is a simple weekly check-in centered around the employee. While you will inevitably discuss tasks and essential elements of the job, the focus should be on the employee. A simple process each week will cement the relationship. The four questions should include: “What were your successes this past week?’, ‘what challenges did you experience?’, ‘How can I help you?’ and what do you need more of to continue to grow?’. You, as a leader, may think this is monotonous. However, it provides security, reliability, and great comfort in showing attention to the employee.
With that, love will grow, workers will be content, and organizations will attain stability among employees and prosper. But, like a relationship, how can it grow and flourish when there is little love. After all, people leave relationships because of personal dynamics, and for that same reason leave jobs because of people.
