The “Turnover Tsunami” and What It Means For You
If you’re an employer, chances are the past couple years have presented some unique challenges for you when it comes to staffing your business.
Among the myriad of effects it created, COVID-19 has had a strong influence on the way employees perceive their jobs. For employees who had been considering finding a new job in 2020, the stability of a regular paycheck was tough to give up when the pandemic hit. After all, in the immediate onset of the first lockdowns, the rapid job loss and flood of business closures across many Canadian industries meant that the amount of people looking for work far outweighed the number of jobs available. Taking the risk of quitting a stable job to hopefully find a new one just wasn’t a prudent move at the time.
Fast forward to 2021. The labour market, like all other markets, is prone to fluctuations when external factors are introduced. In the beginning of the pandemic, employees were more likely to stay in a job they didn’t love in order to maintain a financial safety net. Today, widespread vaccine distribution has pushed the workforce’s response to the pandemic into a new phase. Now that things are perceived to be a little safer, many of the employees who wanted to look for a new job in 2020 (and those who’ve decided they want a change since then) are now ready to pick up the job search again. This is creating an above-average rate of turnover in the workforce, which many are referring to as the “turnover tsunami”.
But, what would cause an employee to want to leave their job? Every individual is different, but there are a few overarching reasons that are likely influencing the current wave of turnover in the Canadian labour market.
Pandemic Fatigue and Burnout
Burnout is one of the major motivators behind the turnover tsunami. As thousands of companies suddenly required their employees to work-from-home in 2020, millions of Canadian employees had to adjust to entirely new way of working. Though many appreciate the flexibility and casual nature that comes with working from home, many also find it to be tough to know when to switch off – if your home is your office, you’re always at the office (and might feel like you always need to be working).
Working from home also makes it challenging to replicate the community-like culture that comes with working in an office setting. This can cause workers to feel isolated and separate from their company’s goals and values, which in turn reduces their level of engagement with their work.
Beyond that, employees are tired: everyone has been through it over the last year, and even those who maintained a steady source of income through the pandemic have likely felt their stress levels rise. This general sense of unhappiness or exhaustion can have a major influence on an employee’s interest levels in their job.
Better Compensation or Benefits
The goal of finding a job that offers a better compensation package (whether that be in terms of salary, benefits or both) tends to be the most common reason people seek to leave their jobs. In a study commissioned by Canadian research firm Achievers, it was found that 35% of employees looking to find a new position were doing so in order to find a job that would offer them better compensation.
Why an employee would want a higher salary is relatively obvious: most people want to be earning more money to enjoy a higher quality of life. This is something that holds true in any labour market, no matter the external conditions influencing it. However, this is another reason for turnover that’s been influenced heavily by the events of the past couple years.
The pandemic made millions of Canadians realize how important it is to have a well-tended savings account and other perks like health benefits. For many Canadians, the need to grow an emergency fund highlighted a simple truth: to save effectively, they’d either need to cut down on non-essentials or find a higher paying job. If given the choice, most people would rather earn more than cut out buying things that make them happy. Now that the market is bouncing back, many are more comfortable with taking risks to seek out a greater degree of financial security.
Greater Professional Fulfillment
Finally, one of the major reasons people are looking to find a new job in the post-pandemic world is because they don’t feel connected to their work in the same way they did pre-COVID. The pandemic forced people to reflect on their relationships with family, friends, their community, the planet and of course, their professions. While some employees want to achieve more within their current industry, perhaps seeking out new opportunities with a competitor, others are seeking to shake things up entirely.
For some, this means finding a profession where they can make more of a positive impact on the world through their work. For others, it can be due to a major changes in perception caused by the pandemic. This can be seen acutely in industries that offer lower-wage positions and suffered from fluctuating closures throughout the pandemic, like food service, hospitality, and retail. Employees who work in these sectors were exposed to great uncertainty over the past few years with their jobs, and many are seeking out employment in industries they perceive to be more stable.
So, if you’re an employer who’s feeling the effects of the turnover tsunami, what can be done to mitigate its effects?
The effort and cost involved in recruiting, hiring and onboarding new team members is no joke. Not only do these processes take up a considerable amount of resources, they also take up the time of your decision-making staff members and force other team members to take up the mantle of training until the new employees are up to speed. Turnover also means that you’ll be losing a fully-trained asset to your business. This can slow down progress in your organization, increase the workload of already-stressed team members and divert monetary resources away from important business objectives.
If you’re looking to proactively make changes that’ll reduce the impact of turnover on your business, we’ve got a few suggestions.
Increase Compensation and/or Benefits
This is an obvious one. If you’re worried about losing your best employees, you need to think seriously about how to improve the way you’re compensating them. Employees that don’t feel their companies are compensating them properly are inevitably going to feel underappreciated and undervalued as part of your team. It can be expensive to offer your team raises or a new benefits package, but if you consider the cost of facing a turnover tsunami (with an unclear end in sight), it’s worth it to increase your offer.
💡 QUBER offers one-of-a-kind financial wellness programs in Canada and help reduce your employees’ financial stress, increasing your engagement and retention rates. If you’re interested in learning more about how our programs can become a major asset in your retention strategies, click here.
Offer Opportunities for Professional Development
Another way to keep your employees in your organization is to offer them pathways to grow their professional skill sets. For some, this may include an offer to pay for training courses or extra schooling that’ll help them achieve more for your business. For others, it may be the opportunity to shadow an executive member of your team, or a clear path of promotions within the company.
Most employees want to keep growing and developing on a professional level. If your company isn’t willing to offer your best candidates any path to do so, don’t be surprised if they head for a better opportunity with one of your competitors!
Be Considerate
Finally, if you’re worried that you’re going to lose your top talent to the turnover tsunami, remember to be considerate. As mentioned, your employees have been through it over the course of the pandemic! Everyone has been through a lot and stress levels are high, whether they be about financial worries, health concerns, shifting societal norms and turmoil in the news.
As an employer, it’s your job to ensure your staff is working hard to achieve your business’s overall objectives, but if they’re stressed out, they’re not likely to do great quality work. Offering your employees additional perks, like mental health days or small thank you presents, is a great way to show that you care about their overall well-being and appreciate their hard work throughout a tough period of time.
If you’re a Canadian employer interested in adopting an innovative benefits package to retain your employees, reduce the effects of financial stress in the workplace and set yourself apart from your competitors, match-based saving benefits may be right for your business! QUBER is an industry leader in Canadian match-based savings and can offer employers a customized experience using the QUBER platform to facilitate match-based savings with their employees. If you’re interested in seeing a demo of how QUBER can help strengthen your relationship with your employees, send us an email at contactus@quber.ca or book yourself a consultation by clicking here.