FEATURE STORY CONT.
aren’ t willing to tolerate anymore. This professional awakening has caught a lot of leaders and companies flat-footed. However, too many leaders are using the Great Resignation as a crutch. A significant percentage of people who have quit over the last 15 months did so as a result of poor company culture, where leaders are solely focused on productivity and bottom-line profits.
I have seen firsthand that the companies with the strongest company culture, long before the pandemic, are significantly less affected by the so-called labor shortage. And the organizations that churned and burned their team members or only paid lip service to support a“ great” workplace culture are the ones hit the hardest by the employee turnover.
LEADERSHIP EPIPHANY
“ You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”
You have probably heard that quote hundreds of times. I know I have repeated it at least that many times to my three boys, at newemployee orientations, and to any young person who asks me for advice. The point of this quote is that each of us is responsible for whom we allow in our circle of friends. We must audit the people around us to make sure we are spending time with people who make us better, inspire us, and encourage us in all areas of our lives.
Has it hit you yet, the“ aha!” moment? My leadership epiphany is that the employees who work in our organizations do not get to choose with whom they work or with whom they spend more time in their lives than their family and friends. As leaders, we choose for them. Then we complain that we have good employees, but their morale has gone down, and they are not performing like they once were. We have good employees quitting our company. Then we blame it on the Great Resignation or the younger generation’ s lack of work ethic, or we claim all they care about is money.
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