Written by: Kathy Scott, Ph.D. and Bridget Sarikas, Executive Contributors
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Re-valuing our Values and Priorities
People in large numbers are experiencing a great awakening, or inner shift, in the wake of the chaos and volatility of a global pandemic and all its disruptive collateral. This awakening comes after an intense period of survival mode as we collectively focused on just making it through the day. And in its wake, as we cautiously look up and take in some slow, deep breaths, we notice a new perspective that is calling for change.
This shift is a new awareness within us that evolved below the surface during our recent experiences, insights, and learnings. It created an internal change that is asking for some sort of meaningful action. It even impacts our values and our priorities. Many describe this shift as newfound courage to address and move past the fear and discomfort of the past, contemplating the possibilities at the intersection of their affections and success. Many are ready to contribute to the world in new ways that are uniquely their own, and in ways that move them toward their greater potential.
People are responding to their inner tug for a more meaningful life. They are feeling a personal call to be more discriminate and intentional with their choices, time, and relationships. People (including your authors) are reclaiming what they think is important, what gives them meaning and joy both personally and professionally.
And yes, this inner shift is causing people to take a good close look at where and how they spend their time and efforts as it relates to their work, livelihood, profession. They are asking questions such as:
Is this how I want to spend my time and energy?
What is the significance of this work?
Can I make meaningful contributions here?
Will others appreciate the contributions I make?
Is this work feeding my inner soul or destroying my spirit?
These spoken and unspoken questions are creating havoc in the workplace as individuals from all walks of life challenge themselves and the status quo. And it’s here to stay.
Re-defining the Workplace
The world’s abuzz with talk about the evolving workplace, worker conditions, and leader-worker mindsets. Many are contemplating their future, making this an opportune time for a little data illumination. There are several recent studies related to employment and the workplace to inform these discussions, including research on quit rates, hybrid work models, return-to-work mandates, employee retention, and employee intentions. These studies along with our interviews of key leaders and employees across multiple industries are putting a bright light on the employee unrest in our midst.
More specifically, consider the following:
Employee resignations in 2021 are trending upwards as never before (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (USBLS)). This is occurring amid high job-vacancy rates.
Message – this is an employee’s market. How often have you wanted to hear this? Or does it depend on which hat you’re wearing at the moment?
Quit rates are rising across multiple industries. Higher-than-average quit rates include jobs in foodservice; hospitality; retail trade; transport and utilities; and professional and business services (USBLS).
Message – we are all impacted personally, and many are impacted professionally. How is this going in your neighborhood? Are there “help wanted” signs everywhere? Do you find that wait times for services are getting longer?
Frontline Healthcare Workers are experiencing burnout. A recent study by the Kaiser Family Foundation (Kirzinger, 2021) showed that healthcare workers’ psychological well-being has been significantly impacted by the pandemic regardless of the setting in which they work. Fifty-five percent indicated they felt burned out, 49 percent felt anxious, and about one in five frontline workers indicated they were angry when they went to work. (This is definitely not healthy living!) The most impacted are the younger workers and those most recently entering a new profession.
Message – our frontline healthcare workers need healing themselves. Leaders must check their empathy barometer and find ways to prioritize their employee’s psychological well-being as never before.
High turnover and increasing vacancies in healthcare. Last year, in the throes of the pandemic, hospital turnover increased by 1.7 percent and currently stands at 19.5 percent. The turnover rate for bedside RNS has been steadily trending upward since before the pandemic, from 14.6 percent in 2016, to 17.2 percent in 2017 and 18.7 percent in 2020, according to a survey by NSI Nursing Solutions (2021). And this trend is occurring as the RN vacancy rate continues to climb into 2021. Over one-third (35.8 percent) of the hospitals in 2021 are experiencing an overall RN vacancy rate of more than 10 percent, which is up from 22.7 percent of the hospitals in 2017 (NSI).
Message – COVID aside, our healthcare will be impacted. Some of you may already be experiencing this. Pretty unsettling, isn’t it?
Not only are employees resigning but so are their managers. According to a Microsoft study of 31,092 people in 31 markets across the globe, turnover for the management group was 11.8 percent higher than it was the year before. While no one knows if manager turnover will continue to increase, we do know that it has a significant impact on those left behind.
Message – employees’ attachment to their organization is greatly influenced by their relationship with their manager. When managers go, the turnover risk increases. Managers, you may have more influence than you realized.
The global workforce will be more mobile. Forty-one percent of the workforce are considering moving on from their current employer within the next year and 46 percent are planning to make a major pivot or career transition (Microsoft).
Message – organizations will lose intellectual and social capital, which will take time and money to rebuild. How many of you know people who are making this change? Are you one of them?
Many employees want to stay home and stay connected. Figuring out the work model of the future will take time and effort. There are multiple and conflicting preferences that will require a variety of options.
Message – It’s time to trade in the familiar one-size-fits-all model. Flexibility and creativity will be key!
Senior leaders are out of touch. There is a big disconnect between the perceptions of leaders at the top and those below them (Microsoft). While this is not a new phenomenon, the gap is widening. Senior leaders are much more optimistic about the future than their managers and workers.
Message – Senior leaders need to find new ways to connect, relate to, and understand the people in their organizations at all levels. It’s time to tear down those walls, have meaningful conversations – laugh a little – maybe cry a little - and definitely lean in!
Re-setting for Meaning in Our Work and Workplaces
Clearly, things are changing. And in many instances – for the better. This past week, we met with three different entrepreneurs who had left their stable but stale jobs many months ago to start new businesses in their market – much-needed services that energize their spirit. They expressed an inner joy amidst long hours and the many unknowns. We cheer them on through encouragement and connection to new resources, networks, and potential customers.
They are not alone. Many have taken the time to reflect on their personal life as well as their future over the recent months. Many are searching for healthier ways that balance personal needs with the contributions they wish to make to others. There is a new awareness of an inner sense of truth tugging at them. There’s a greater willingness to give up some of the now-perceived burdens of the past – burdens of pretense, inauthenticity, image building, materialism, debt, meaningless activity, mental exhaustion – and replace these burdens with healthy doses of reality sprinkled with inspiration for the future.
People are tired of being consumed by the many insignificant and pointless activities in the workplace that leave them feeling apathetic, detached, burned out. They’re looking for work that will restore their inner sense of purpose and truth. Many employees have indicated that they are willing to change jobs and professions for the gift of work that energizes the human spirit. They are even willing to take less pay in exchange for this pursuit of meaning.
These trends and dynamics change the work of leaders. This is not business as usual. The work of leaders moving forward is to build strong teams that willingly choose to contribute their strengths, passions, and talents to the greater good. This is a leadership mindset that genuinely respects the team members and trusts in their capacity to be generous, contributing, and kind. It is about connection – human-to-human, heart-to-heart, personal purpose to the greater good. It is a focus on not just the organization’s concerns, but the individual human concerns within the organization (Gratton, 2021). Don’t you love this?
This new way also requires supporting structures that move beyond the hierarchical decision-making of a few to structures that seek out the perspectives of the members, encouraging diverse thinking and unique points of view. These structures, when designed with the intent to redirect attention to the people who do the work, will draw the talent in.
Now is the time to create a new foundation that supports your future team – one that attracts, engages, inspires, and provides meaning to the members and future members. While we cannot change the past, to include all that went down during the pandemic, we can embrace our new learnings and walk forward with intention, using our power and influence to create healthier ways of living, leading, and working.
Titter Time
“Sorry, I can’t go to work tomorrow. I fractured my motivation.”
Kathy Scott, Ph.D. and Bridget Sarikas, Executive Contributors Brainz Magazine
Kathy Scott, Ph.D., and Bridget Sarikas have seen plenty of stale, uninspiring, and unhealthy leadership styles during their respective 30+ year careers in various industries. They saw the same old leadership structures (hierarchical), the same old mindset (my way or the highway), and the same old reaction to change (blame and shame). Now they are on a mission to help individuals and organizations be more purposeful, live more intentionally, and make better choices to promote their personal resilience and professional success.
Kathy and Bridget are partners and co-founders of L3 Fusion LLC. A niche firm focused on transformational leadership that helps individuals and organizations maneuver through the chaos and complexity of today’s organizations and move to a healthier way of living leading, and learning. Using the science of systems thinking and psychology, they help others overcome the unhealthy status quo and move with the intention to achieve their goals – moving from surviving to thriving. They do this with a dose of humor, science, and stories from the field.
Kathy and Bridget are also Amazon's bestselling co-authors of the book “Stupid Gone Viral – When Science and Reality Collide,” a new approach to leadership that helps the reader develop their own path to success that ensures they are NEVER underestimated as a leader!
References:
Gratton, L. (2021, May-June). How to do hybrid right. Harvard Business Review, 66-74.
Kirzinger, A., Kearney, A., Hamel, L. & Brodie, M. (2021, April 6). KFF/The Washington Post Frontline Health Care Workers Survey. Accessed 7/14/21 at KFF/The Washington Post Frontline Health Care Workers Survey – Toll of the Pandemic – 9666-2 | KFF
Microsoft (2021, March 22). 2021 Work Trend Index: Annual report: The Next Great Disruption is Hybrid Work. Are We Ready? Accessed 7/1/21 at The Next Great Disruption Is Hybrid Work—Are We Ready? (microsoft.com)
NSI Nursing Solutions, Inc. (2021). 2021 NSI National Health Care Retention & RN Staffing Report. Accessed 7/1/21 at NSI_National_Health_Care_Retention_Report.pdf
U.S. Department of Labor (2021). Economic news release. Accessed 7/1/21 at Table 4. Quits levels and rates by industry and region, seasonally adjusted (bls.gov)
