Protect Your Business from the Great Resignation

From small mom-and-pop shops to large corporations, the Great Resignation has impacted nearly every business in some way. Entrepreneurial companies have felt the pinch too. Learn how to protect your business from the Great Resignation.

Stories from the Front Lines

In June 2021, job openings in the U.S. climbed to a record high of more than 10 million, while hiring lagged by over 3 million. This just begins to quantify the shortage of labor as businesses struggle to find workers.

How those open positions affect entrepreneurial companies varies. In general, you hear the same tales of bidding wars and shortened business hours due to staff shortages.

Bidding Wars

Much like the housing or used-car markets, entrepreneurial leaders can find themselves trapped in bidding wars for preferred candidates. During salary negotiation, exorbitant counteroffers happen at all-time highs now because employees continue to get better and better offers.

In fact, many hiring managers have felt the burn of top candidates using their offers as leverage at another company. Never mind the fact that you run the possibility of simply being unable to match a counteroffer. At some point, something has to give, right?

Short-Staffed and Shortened Hours

With fewer employees to fill shifts, business owners have had to face difficult decisions on how to operate with reduced staff or not open at all.

I recently watched one server manage orders and wait tables for an entire dining room of 20 tables in a New York restaurant. She apologized for the long wait time since she was the only one working that night.

Others may not have admired the waitress as I did. Instead, they may have complained, not returned, or told their friends about the slow service.

Despite an owner’s best attempts and the valiant efforts of the staff who do show up, the business reputation can suffer.

Offer More Than a Job and a Paycheck

Fortunately, the tools and disciplines of the Entrepreneurial Operating System® (EOS®) can help you find and keep great people by offering more than a job and a paycheck. You offer them meaning! For job candidates and your current staff, the secret lies in three key sections of your Vision/Traction Organizer™ (V/TO™).

Who

Your core values describe the culture and identity of the “tribe” that works in your organization. People have a need to belong. People crave the joy of working with others who share the core values … and safety from core values violators.

What and Why

With your Core Focus™,  you describe what you do and why you do it. With a clearly articulated focus, your employees stay connected to your company’s “noble purpose” – the thing bigger than any one of you! It gets all of you out of bed in the morning. Your Core Focus reveals the thing you and your team do that make the world a better place.

Where and When

Your company’s 10-Year Target™ provides a glimpse into where you want your “noble purposes” to go. Jim Collins called it your Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG). It’s meaningful for your team to understand the scale and/or market status of what you are building together.

Infuse Meaning into Your Team’s Work

The Vision/Traction Organizer (V/TO) clearly outlines where you want to go and specific milestones along the way to get there. Other sections break down that long-term purpose into the 3-Year Picture™, 1-Year Plan, and Quarterly Rocks.

Infuse meaning into your team’s work by making sure the vision contained in the (V/TO) is shared by all. Without meaning, an employee will turn in their resignation when the going gets tough. With meaning, your team knows they belong to something bigger and turns to innovation in pursuit of the vision.

Next Steps for You

Nothing happens overnight; every sustainable improvement takes time. The simple two-page business strategy called V/TO can help “resignation-proof” your business.