To gain some insight on why so many workers are eager to quit their jobs, we reached out to hiring consultant, CEO and host of the Growing Your Team podcast, Jamie Van Cuyk. First, we asked Jamie why she thinks the Great Resignation began and whether or not she believes these workers were justified in leaving their positions. "When the COVID pandemic sent people home, they started reflecting on their priorities and values. For many, this prompted a change," Jamie told Bored Panda. "The change for some was to stop working altogether, whether to retire or stay home with family. For others, it meant finding a new company or career path that better aligned with their priorities and values."
"I think many of the employees were justified in their decision to quit," Jamie went on to say. "We spend a lot of time at work. While no job is perfect, why should people stay with a company or in a position that is working against them when they can transition to something better? An employee/employer relationship should not be one-sided but rather a give-and-take relationship that leaves both sides feeling valued. The moves of the Great Resignation have helped to balance the relationship."
We also asked Jamie what she considers paramount for employee satisfaction and retention. "The most important factors are transparency, communication, and follow-through. With transparency, there is always a line between what you can and can’t share with team members. Share everything you can, even if it’s not the perfect message," Jamie told Bored Panda. "It’s better to say, 'Here’s what we know today, but things might change as we learn more as we get deeper into this initiative,' than not to share anything until the message is perfect. Transparency helps employees feel like they are a part of something bigger than their role and allows them to see how their role fits into the bigger picture."
"Communication is then essential to build one-on-one relationships," Jamie noted. "Too many managers do not know their team members’ goals and ambitions. They don’t know if this is the job that employee wants to retire in or if it’s one stop on their career path. This can result in employees being overlooked for internal opportunities because no one knows to consider the employee for the project or open position. Communicate with employees and not just at employees. Learn what they want so you know what it will take to keep them happy and within the company."
"Then follow-through is the most important," Jamie added. "If you’re going to take the time to find out what your employee’s goals are, what they want, and what will make them happy, do something about it! This can be having them help with a particular project, going to them for questions in their area of expertise, or anything else that shows you care about them as people. Show them that you value what they told you. When employees feel valued, they tend to be happy, and they stay."
We also asked Jamie if she had any advice for workers who have had a hard time finding a job where they feel valued. "Ask yourself why you feel this way," Jamie says. "Once you understand why you are not feeling valued, you can target companies that match what you’re looking for during your job search."
"I work with business owners and hiring managers throughout the hiring process, and I always tell them, 'Just because someone is good at what they do does not mean they are right for you.' The same stands true for you when you’re job searching. Just because a company has an opening that matches your skill set does not mean that the job is right for you."
"There is so much more to a job than the tasks that you will complete," Jamie explained. "Truly evaluate the company during the job search by researching them before the interview and then asking questions during the interview. And don’t be afraid to ask for details. For example, if a company says they value work-life balance, ask the interviewer to provide you with examples of what this looks like in the office. If they value continuous education, ask when was the last opportunity they had to expand their skill set or help a team member grow their skill set."
If you'd like to gain more insight from Jamie, be sure to check out the Growing Your Team right here.
I’m sure it will come as no surprise to you that there is quite the audience for anti-capitalist content on the internet. As many workers are frustrated with their current positions, wages and the treatment they endure from their employers, the Eff You I Quit page has really taken off. The Instagram account currently has 131k followers, but the Twitter account, which was initially launched in August, 2012, has over 235k followers. The pages' bios state, “The labor market is a mess. Here to show you why.” And the accounts certainly do show us why.
From sharing pictures of signs passive aggressively posted in the windows of businesses to screenshots of shocking conversations between workers and their bosses, Eff You I Quit is a goldmine for calling out everything that’s wrong with the current capitalist culture we’re living in. So whether you’re dreaming about quitting your job any day now or you’re actually satisfied with your current place of employment, we hope you appreciate this list of reminders that the labor market still has a long way to go.
Earlier this year, I wrote another article featuring a story shared by Eff You I Quit on Twitter, so I reached out to the creator of the account to hear how these pages got started in the first place. “I was fed up seeing story after story of people being taken advantage of by their jobs or bosses,” he told Bored Panda. “I’ve had plenty of bad jobs myself. The whole corporate office park credo has always been unnerving to me and hearing other people’s workplace horror stories really struck home and inspired me to want to help spread that message. Watching people stand up to bad situations is empowering.”
I also asked the creator what his goal is in sharing these stories. “The main purpose of this account is to call out all of these profiteering corporations who employ bad bosses, illegal business practices, awful working conditions, horrible hiring practices and all these other truly awful corporate norms a lot of us here in the US think are normal,” he shared. “They aren’t normal. We’ve just been conditioned to think they are. These major corporations are pulling in record profits while raising prices and simultaneously refusing to raise wages. They need to be called out on it.”
“When a company says that they don’t have enough money to give you a performance or cost of living wage increase and then they brag to their investors on an earnings call that they are raking it in, well, screw that,” the creator of Eff You I Quit continued. “They’re lying to you. And all you have to do is look at the company’s financial statements to prove it. The working class is suffering and building fortunes for a few select people at the top. Costs on everything have skyrocketed; rent, transportation, childcare, healthcare, and even food are all becoming unaffordable for a lot of people. It has to stop.”
We also asked him if he thinks it’s common to encounter unprofessional hiring managers or employers. “It’s more common than it should be, that's for sure,” he told Bored Panda. “It’s not that hard to treat people with dignity and respect. A modicum of professionalism is all people are expecting in the hiring process. Companies need to be upfront about salary and benefits. Workers aren’t there simply for the ‘honor of working for your prestigious firm’. We’ve got bills to pay and busy lives. Don’t waste people’s time and people won’t waste yours. We all win.”
“Job hunting is hard, exhausting, and downright awful,” the creator told us. “If employers are hurting for staff, they need to make sure their hiring practices are as easy as possible. No more making people guess what they might be paid. No more two or three identical forms to fill out with all the same information that’s already been provided on your resume. No more triple interviews that have a ton of test work involved. If you absolutely need a working interview, guess what, that’s still work. You need to pay people for that. Having people take significant time off work, multiple times, is extremely disruptive. Hiring managers need to do better.”
Companies tend to get defensive and take it out on their workers when they are having issues with staff retention, but keeping employees satisfied is not rocket science. The vast majority of them quit because they feel undervalued, they are seeking higher wages or better benefits, or they are fed-up with toxic management. And according to My HR Toolkit, there are several effective ways to get workers to stay. First they recommend that companies make sure their employees are always recognized for their accomplishments and hard work. It's important to have open and honest conversations with them about how valuable they are to you and the rest of the staff, and let them know how much they would be missed if they were to leave.
