24 Apr Take the Lead: How to Retain Top Performers in the Midst of “the Great Resignation”

As star employees fly the coop, managers have an opportunity to change course for the better

By Katie Morell

It was a little more than a year into the COVID-19 pandemic—May 2021, to be exact—when then–Texas A&M associate professor of management Anthony Klotz coined the term “the great resignation” in an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek. With a background in the corporate world, Klotz understood the dynamics of employees exiting due to unhappiness, and predicted that the later stages of the pandemic would, as he explained to Texas A&M Today, inspire staffers “to take control of their personal and professional lives.”

The prediction Klotz—who is now associate professor at University College London School of Management—made couldn’t have been more spot-on, and the statistics prove it. According to the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary (or JOLTS) sent out monthly by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of people voluntarily resigning from their jobs (dubbed “quits” in the survey) has reached into the
4 million range more months than not, starting in November 2021. In November 2022, the number was reported at 4.2 million, with separations increasing in industries such as health care, social assistance, transportation, warehousing, and utilities.

The US government isn’t the only entity with numbers to back up Klotz’s era-defining moniker. In a March 2022 survey published by McKinsey & Company of 600 people who’d voluntarily left their jobs (without another waiting in the wings), 44 percent said they had “little to no interest in returning to traditional jobs in the next six months.” What’s more, of the 52,000 people polled as part of PwC’s Global Workforce Hopes and Fears Survey 2022, one in five respondents said they were “extremely likely or very likely” to switch employers in the coming years.

If you’re a manager reading this and your blood pressure is rising just thinking of your top performers walking out the door, there is hope. And Kena Pitts’s story is evidence of that.

Top performer case study: from discouraged to inspired

Pitts is the textbook version of a top performer. Today, from her base in Birmingham, Alabama, she guides multiple companies in the organizational and leadership development realm with her firm, C-Suite Boutique, which focuses on helping high performers enter the executive level. But before she was a founder and CEO, she worked for years as a compliance officer in the financial services industry.

It was during one of those jobs at a large bank that she found herself dispirited with how the company valued (or, more accurately, did not value) her contributions. She would come to the table with innovative ideas, only to be told to go back to her desk, and learn later that others were taking credit for her hard work. She was told management didn’t need her assistance, but then she’d be assigned hard projects, deliver, and not get the credit she deserved. Higher-ups were inaccessible, mobility was not an option, and she felt stuck.

“I remember writing in my journal, ‘I’m better than this. I’m bigger than this,’” Pitts says, adding that while she liked her job, she didn’t like how the department was managed—from a top-down, people-last approach. “I had to figure out how to take more control of my career.”

It wasn’t until she returned from leave after giving birth to one of her children that things started to change. The top officer in her department had been let go while she was out and replaced with a people-first leader who genuinely cared about the growth of everyone in the department.

“I remember her assistant was always happy, always smiling, making it a point to call you by name,” Pitts says. “The former person was not approachable and always sat in the office with the door closed, while the new person had her door open unless in a meeting. The new person valued opinions, and there were always opportunities to showcase who you were.”

The night and day difference, she says, was palpable, and the department thrived. Pitts ended up happily staying another four years and during those years was promoted three times.

Retention advice for managers

Pitts’s experience is confirmation that top performers will, in fact, stay if a less-than-ideal situation is altered to make space for their needs and growth.

Beth Napleton is a 25-year veteran in the education field, having founded and led a charter school network in Chicago. Today she operates as CEO of Beth Napleton Consulting and works with leaders across industries to help them succeed. During her time in education, she had many high-performing teachers hand in their resignation for one reason or another, but she became, in her words, “famous for not taking a resignation at first glance.”

In those situations, she’d sit down with the teacher one-on-one and ask them to spell out every reason they were unhappy. She’d take copious notes and not respond until they were finished. No rebutting. Often, she would write down each complaint on a whiteboard so they could look at the list together. Once it was written out, she’d ask, “Is that really all?” Then she’d wait for the teacher to say more, and write it down.

“From there, I would ask them to assign a percentage to each of the reasons they were leaving,” Napleton says. “It would help me understand if I could offer them appropriate solutions. And I often could. I think it is really important for leaders to acknowledge that they hear concerns, take them seriously, and give a date by which they will get back to them with a solution or answer.”

Sitting about 2,000 miles west of Chicago, in her Portland, Oregon, office, Dana Lawrence is a compliance executive in the fintech space. She says in the past three years, she’s seen companies that rely on traditional top-down approaches to leadership struggle more than ever to retain great employees.

Instead, she advises managers to “throw your business books out the window and lead with empathy. Do your decision-making based on that.” When people feel heard, she says, that sparks motivation.

But what if, as a manager, you’re worried one of your top dogs has a foot out the door? In that scenario, Lawrence recommends immediately initiating a conversation. “It could simply be you telling them that you really value their work and want to check to see how they are doing,” she says.

From there, seek their feedback. Ask if they are feeling appreciated and happy, and if there is anything they need. “You may be surprised by the answer—it isn’t always money,” Lawrence says. “They may be bored, and you could start giving them stretch assignments. It could be that they have to drop their kids at day care every morning and can’t do that without being 30 minutes late, which is causing them stress.

“Remember, people will tell you the truth if they don’t think they will be penalized,” Lawrence says. “ Connect with your people and show that caring for them is a top priority for you and your company.”

And finally, Napleton stresses how important it is for leaders to exhibit vulnerability on a regular basis.

“When I was new in my career, I felt like I needed to have all the answers,” she says. “But I’ve learned it is more powerful when I say that I don’t know something. The truth is, people will trust you more if you are honest with them and show your fallibility. It is OK to be human with the humans you lead.” DW

Katie Morell is a writer, editor, and facilitator based in Bend, Oregon. Read more of her work at Katiemorell.com.