Can IT Fix the Damages Caused by the Great Resignation?
Have you taken time to Google, ”The Great Resignation”? If you have, we know you have found countless articles and news stories. The Great Resignation is the movement that resulted in many workers leaving their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic. This movement is not just occurring in the United States, this phenomenon is being felt around the world and it is affecting every industry and job type.
Many organizations are struggling to deal with the shortage of workers. As a result, experts are recommending that businesses and organizations should focus their attention on retention policies and programs. As a business leader, addressing the movement that involves employees quitting their jobs is probably your priority, given the rising costs associated with employee replacement.
Fortunately, technology can be used to solve the key issues behind the sudden mass resignations. Partnering with a reliable IT service partner will help you ease employee fatigue, improve employee work-life balance, and create a competitive edge for your business.
What Is the Great Resignation?
The Great Resignation is a trend of employees leaving their jobs since the spring of 2021. A record 4.4 million Americans voluntarily left their jobs in September, accelerating a trend that has become known as the Great Resignation, also known as the Big Quit.
The number of Americans voluntarily quitting exceeded pre-pandemic highs for six months in a row. Employers, especially in low-wage sectors, are still struggling to fill open positions. One major factor driving workers to quit is that they are no longer willing to accept the working conditions and pay they accepted before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Why Are Workers Quitting Their Jobs?
The COVID-19 pandemic changed human societies on nearly every level. COVID-19 quickly restructured today’s workplace model that had been around since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.
For nearly 24 months, the expectations of workers across the globe continue to evolve. This mindset shift led to millions of workers looking for new jobs, seeking more opportunities for career advancement, and searching for more flexible working conditions, with the ability to work remotely being one of their priorities.
The Great Resignation is not going away any time soon either. This ongoing issue continues to affect businesses and organizations across multiple industries. How can your business navigate The Great Resignation and thrive in the midst of it? By incorporating the latest technology solutions into your business processes.
Withstand the Wave of the Great Resignation with Automation Technology
Automation technology comprises all processes and equipment that enable systems to run automatically. Automation technology enables teams to focus on their essential functions and make everyone’s lives easier. While many businesses and organizations are struggling to hire and retain employees, focusing on adopting digital technology solutions may be your solution to resolve the issue of being understaffed.
Previously, you may have needed to maintain a large team when you needed to complete tasks in full and on time. Today, this is no longer the case. You no longer have to hire and retain a large team. Businesses and organizations can now implement automated processes that can help small teams complete a larger amount of work in a more efficient and cost-effective way.
As a result, more businesses and organizations are adopting automation technology solutions to combat the effects of The Great Resignation.
How Can Technology Fix the Great Resignation?
Technology can help your business or organization address many of the reasons given by resigning employees. However, some businesses and organizations will discover they may need to outsource some or all of their IT services to tackle some of the challenges that caused many workers to be dissatisfied with the state of their workplace. Here are a few ways in which IT can help you fix the damages caused by The Great Resignation.
Using IT to Improve Efficiency
While they are simple and easy to do, humans do not like taking on repetitive tasks. Humans easily grow tired of tedious tasks, often leading to mistakes and inefficiency, which will often result in higher costs.
When employees have to switch back and forth between their core tasks and tedious, monotonous ones, productivity and efficiency will suffer. Once an employee becomes distracted, it can take nearly half an hour for the employee to return to the original task after an interruption or distraction. When employees are able to focus on their core tasks, they can achieve more in less time.
Identify Congestion in the Workplace
Through the use of workflow automation, businesses and organizations give themselves a better opportunity to identify any hindrances in the workplace. Workflow automation makes it easier to identify issues, address the issues you have found, and implement a reliable solution. Eventually, this can have a significant impact on businesses and organizational efficiency and employee satisfaction.
Using IT to Automate Tasks
Paying someone to complete numerous manual tasks is not only necessary but also expensive. That number rapidly increases if you have to continuously replace employees just to do manual tasks. The cost of replacing an employee can be twice the employee’s annual salary, and this may not include any measurable costs, such as a reduction in employee morale and reduced productivity.
The costs associated with voluntary employee turnover total at least $1 trillion each year. Automating workflows save businesses and organizations the cost of hiring replacements and trying to retain those replacements, as well as saving a significant amount of money by reducing human errors
IT Helps Provide a Better Work-Life Balance
IT management helps businesses and organizations fix flexibility challenges by enabling employees to work from home. Applications such as Microsoft 365 allow employees to have online (browser-based) access to their favorite applications from any location. Employees do not have to be physically at their main office to complete their work tasks.
You can allow your employees to work full-time from home or through a hybrid workplace model. A hybrid workplace model can be adopted by all industries. Regardless of the industry, there are work tasks that can be handled remotely.
Allowing your employees to work remotely helps you provide them with a better work-life balance. Your employees can determine whether they want to work during the day or at night, depending on their preferences and personal schedules. With a better balance, your employees will be satisfied and have no reason to leave.
There are several reasons why many employees are unhappy with their jobs. However, most of the reasons can be fixed with technology. Contact Corptek to find out how we can help you navigate The Great Resignation by helping your business deploy the latest technology solutions.
Thanks to my friends at Cinncinati IT services company 4BIS.COM for their help with this article.