A Message from Our CEO – November 2023

“If you don’t like the weather, wait a minute.”

--Astute Observer

It’s over. The Great Resignation bandwagon has slowed to a crawl and is going in reverse, as employers now hold most of the cards.

Turnover has declined steeply, and as the end of the year approaches (aka, firing season) expect to see some significant layoffs, particularly in large organizations. In the last 3-months, 4% of employees were new hires. This compares to over 9% in 2022, more than double. There are less musical chairs than people, so voluntary resignations will become “involuntary” resignations.

But here’s a bigger problem… just as many bad performing employees are staying as long or longer than good performing ones. They’re not leaving, but they are quietly quitting—not getting the work done that needs to be done. So companies are left with the same problems that exist in high turnover and low turnover environment—poor management, especially mid-level management. You can’t blame them for being bad managers. As our second article spells out, three-quarters of the managers are “accidental managers” poorly training for their roles. The UK study suggests we are “throwing managers in the deep end” without a life raft.

Being a workplace consultant for over 2 decades, I have seen training budgets slashed over the years and it’s not helping companies get to the next level. You’ve probably done your budgets for the year, but I would recommend you spend less on AI and climbing walls and re-allocate money to develop your mid-level managers. It’s the best investment you can make for the future of your organization.

Training. And. Development

Warren