5 things leaders must do to grow their business and crush the big quit

Looking back at how the workforce and the workplace have evolved in recent years, what we do hasn’t changed as much as how and why we do it. Increasingly, employees are looking for jobs that are more personally fulfilling. The call to action for many companies, then, is the creation of a new set of workplace standards that put purpose and people first in the workforce.

People want to feel connected and contributing to an organization that values ​​cause, culture, collaboration, compassion, and creation. These concepts are essential to help companies meet their commitments, promote growth and increase profitability.

“When an organization’s business model is driven by holistic purpose, the alignment between its brand identity and sustained engagement with all stakeholders happens organically,” says Kim Christfort, national managing director of Deloitte Greenhouse. “Employees, suppliers, communities and shareholders feel a greater sense of meaning in good times and bad and are therefore able to face challenges with greater ease and resilience.”

I connected with Christfort to understand how organizations have evolved in times of pandemic and what they are doing to put purpose at the forefront of their growth strategy.

Although many people work for a living, they also want a career that contributes to something bigger than themselves. Companies will need to establish a clear mission and express their values ​​to current and prospective employees, ensuring that purpose is at the forefront of conversations. “Sharing a clear and compelling vision for the future while rooted in the organization’s purpose, why we do what we do, is critical to attracting and retaining top talent,” said Christfort. “Regularly reporting on progress toward that vision can also create a greater sense of camaraderie, accomplishment and pride in the work being done on a daily basis.”

Group norms, policies, rituals and celebrations, and shared language (such as Deloitte’s Business Chemistry framework) all contribute to an organization’s culture, according to MIT Sloan professor emeritus Edgar Schein. In the face of long-term hybrid work, employers will need to be more intentional about how they show and share what their values ​​and expectations are.

Leaders have the opportunity to reshape culture holistically by providing cross-functional learning opportunities and creating time to bond or network. “Open dialogue across departments about what works and what doesn’t within hybrid work is essential to optimizing the hybrid work model and reinventing the culture of the organization,” said Christfort.

By bringing more people to the table, virtual work has leveled the playing field for many and opened up conversations about inclusion, but it also presents new challenges for equitable workforce experiences. Historically, equity has been considered in the context of diversity and inclusion, but in the context of returning to work, the definition considers different work preferences of hybrid, virtual, and in-person.

To mitigate potential inequities, hybrid organizations should highlight the potential for in/out group bias and work to empower employees to design more inclusive meetings, regardless of where people work.

With increased flexibility in how and when people work, people are reporting higher levels of burnout and difficulty finding work-life balance. In fact, the job aggregator site conducted a survey that found that more than half (52%) of respondents experienced burnout in 2021, up from 43% who said the same in a pre-Covid-19 survey.

To combat this, leaders and employees alike will need to focus on increasing their empathetic social skills, such as active listening and information sharing. Tactical changes, such as reducing meetings or addressing Zoom fatigue, will continue in earnest.

The shift to hybrid working is also fundamentally changing the way employees come up with innovative ideas. New technology enables better brainstorming sessions, whether or not people are in person. Leaders must also recognize that some of the best ideas come from unexpected parts of the organization, encouraging new ways to extract innovative suggestions.