The Great Resignation continues to impact every industry throughout the nation. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 4.5 million people chose to leave their positions in November alone, an “all-time high.”
As many startups are challenged with recruiting and retaining clients, it’s important to note that the phenomenon is really a migration — individuals aren’t leaving the workforce; they are simply accepting better offers. Much focus has been placed on implementing permanent work-from-home policies to retain workers, but organizations must consider the long-term effects of siloed people on company culture.
Many industries have traditionally relied on heavy in-person relationship building, long office days and constant travel. Things have changed irreversibly, and for the better. Culture is core to retaining employees, and maintaining that culture is nearly impossible without flexibility, some face time, real-time problem-solving and coming together with purpose. While the pandemic has revolutionized the way in which organizations and their employees conduct business and fulfill work responsibilities, it has also confirmed a fact we’ve long known to be true: humans are hardwired to work best together.
Employees should not need to return to the office five days a week, but flexibility cannot mean no time in the office at all. Employees who are not connected to their workplace, colleagues and culture will leave for a higher salary at a moment’s notice, especially in a high-paced startup environment. Those who are will think twice.
While compensation and benefits are important variables that influence retention, corporate culture has grown to become a more reliable predictor. MIT Sloan Management Review explored more than 1.4 million Glassdoor reviews for companies across 38 industries and found that culture is 12.4 times more likely than compensation to affect whether an employee leaves in both blue-collar and white-collar sectors.
To reinforce company culture and retain employees, flexibility with purpose is key. When physically together in an office, we learn from listening and watching others, problem-solve together, and immediately source others’ opinions. We get to know each other and build the trust necessary for groups to perform at high levels.
While flexibility has not been a hallmark of some industries, including the professional services space within which we at KPMG operate, the opportunity has always been there. It just took a pandemic for many industries to see it through.
The race to be the first in and last out of the office is now a moot metric of dedication or ability to perform one’s job. For non-shift workforces, there is a demand for flexibility in the mornings and evenings that must become precedent. Such flexibility enables employees to help see their kids off to school or take care of the tasks that might otherwise distract them during the workday.
As employers, it’s important for us to trust our employees — that they understand their purpose and will work from the location that best enables them to execute the tasks at hand every day, and that they will communicate what they need to be successful.
To retain employees, combining flexibility with an emphasis on safe, in-person work and corporate social activities where possible, is key. Reinforcing your company culture by supporting flexibility drives cohesion and a sense of who and what the company stands for, and what its shared values are — vitally important elements for an energetic, connected, and motivated startup workforce. When employees know this, they are more likely to stay.
John is office managing partner for KPMG’s New England and upstate New York region.
