Idea in Brief
The Problem
Resignations are at an all-time high, and companies desperate to fill vacancies are trying everything from pay raises to trendy perks. But these interventions are falling short—because the real problem is that jobs are often stressful, meaningless, and unlovable.
The Solution
Companies need to take advantage of each person’s unique skills and passions. That means making employees the key stakeholders in the organization, minimizing standardization in performance management tools, and trusting people to accomplish their goals in the way they see fit.
The Benefit
Employees don’t need to love everything about their jobs, but research shows that a little goes a long way toward reducing burnout and helping with engagement. Companies that have begun to embrace some of the tenets in this article have seen improvements in both retention and overall performance.
As record numbers of people have quit their jobs, all sectors of the economy are struggling to fill vacancies. To get people back to work, organizations are changing long-standing policies and offering unprecedented incentives. Transportation companies, for example, have upped their wages to lure long-haul drivers back into truck cabs. California public schools are allowing retired teachers to return to work without recertification. CEOs and CHROs are falling all over themselves to offer flex-time work arrangements more attractive than those of their competitors. But such attempts miss the fundamental problem.
