I have read articles and post on social media indicating the severe loss of employees during the period known as the Great Resignation. Many companies are struggling to keep committed individuals to maintain the operation of their businesses because of the mass exits that continue to plague every industry. This is affecting not only the private sector but even government and state organizations as well.

Most corporations believe that this trend is evidence that people just don’t enjoy their work and have burned out over the work experience. This is totally true. Then there are other leaders that simply brush off the trend and assume that employees have grown lazy and just don’t want to work. Leaders who look at this situation from this perspective are perfect examples of why they should never have been placed in leadership roles from the start. When an employee indicates flaws in their experience as a worker, true leadership will make the effort to investigate the core problems that are creating these desires to exit from the workforce. Companies should look at this as a sign that things need to improve to increase the likelihood that employees will remain committed to the goals of the company.

The customer service industry is in the same situation as everyone else. The pandemic highlighted for everyone the serious lack of creativity and resourcefulness of leadership everywhere. We saw firsthand how ineffective leadership could move to keep morale up and not overwhelm workers with overbearing responsibilities that called for more acceptance of responsibility without working diligently to properly compensate employees for the extra duties they took on just to keep the business operating. That mixed in with a lack of appreciation for those employees who went the extra mile, created the perfect scenario for a mass exit. Once leadership cannot maintain its stance as a caring entity that doesn’t just oversee operations but is willing to maintain the human connection necessary to keep employees engaged will automatically trigger a strong desire for people to seek another means to obtain income.

These types of problems were evident long before the pandemic. But the pandemic exasperated the negative experience greatly and leadership could not pivot directions quickly enough to spare workers from the brutal nature of the job. This certainly doesn’t sound like something a company could recover from effectively, but actually, you can. The leadership of every company must regain their humanity back and sit down with their workers and have the tough conversations about what elements of their experience must be reviewed and improved. Employees will be honest with you about their experiences if you are approaching them from a place of genuine concern. Let them know you care about them as employees. Look at every role within your company as an essential one and get the feedback you need to better the experience. Without doing so, your entrance door will remain a revolving one.

Good luck!!!