The great resignation (and hype) is happening. In reality, it is a wave we’ve all been riding for the last 18 months and we prefer to see it as a flood of opportunity, for both employers and employees. We’re seeing a record number of people quitting or planning to quit across the USA and Europe, and as economies and job markets bounce back and reopen in APAC - we’re seeing the same in our region. 

We have also been riding this wave at Think & Grow, or more accurately, surfing the flood of opportunity. Excitingly, we have had 10 new team members join our team and doubled in size over the past 18 months. I even gladly jumped at the chance to join the team during this time.

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There is no need to panic

The key to successfully riding this wave is strategy; learn more, communicate, consistently try things and actively improve. Find out what works for you and your team and build upon it. Below are proven strategies to help you take advantage of this wave and continually grow your business, despite ‘the great resignation’. 

• Experience is not just something for customers: As employers, we must create memorable experiences throughout the whole team member lifecycle. Memorable experiences build culture and exciting value propositions (EVP). This is something that everyone needs to actively contribute to and be accountable for. Experiences, culture and EVP’s don’t come from templates or out of the box, they are unique to each business and built actively.
  

• Succeed together: As leaders we may be more inclined to provide social and emotional support at work. The pressures of delivering, leading, supporting, balancing, not separating and caretaking at home is driving burnout. As burnout takes its toll, making people leave, workloads shift to those who remain, driving even more burnout. As employers, we need multiple avenues that address these challenges head-on to retain our people and support them to thrive. Yes, make headlines, but genuinely send an important message to your current and prospective team members that we are here to succeed together.
  

• Organisational health is just as important as your people’s health: Employers need to be bolder to reward and promote those who drive visible performance results, build capabilities within themselves and others, create safe work environments and (re)energise the workplace. A healthy business means addressing performance genuinely and head-on, rewarding the great and systematically taking on the not so great.
  

• Really look at what your business needs: Identify the required knowledge, skills, abilities, and experiences. Hire for skills and thinking beyond traditional backgrounds, profiles or academic qualifications. Open up new pools of high-performing talent that may simply be older, younger, from different backgrounds or less formally educated. 
  
  

Utilise the talent you already have 

The easiest talent to source is the talent you already have; the answer to sourcing the right skill sets lies in getting your people Retrained. 

Investing in retraining and development helps to build capabilities that drive financial returns and helps people to succeed, it also shows your team members that their development and advancement matter and they are essential to your company’s future. Everyone wants to chase unicorns, but how many of us are willing to raise one?

Owning your success 

As individuals, we have the biggest role to play. A role that is far more important than what others (or an employer) can give us. Our happiness and success is no one’s responsibility but our own. Yes, we must be proud to ask for help but unless we take ownership and responsibility of our own lives how can we expect others to do the same? Think about it and ask yourself, do you know what gets you up in the morning and what makes you great?

It’s one thing to try and find the ‘right fit’ or an employer that will give the ‘coolest’ perks but unless we are driving our own lives and careers, how can we expect others to do the same? 

Employers need to drive the right culture and environments to attract and keep the best people. As people, we also need to take ownership of our lives and development. Together and by actively trying to better ourselves, we as businesses and people can ride this wave and create the right environments to thrive and flourish.

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This article gives you a human element and insight into the data and findings for our Australian Startup Salary Survey Guide 2021-2022 in partnership with KPMG High Growth Ventures, Tech Council Australia, HiBob and 20+ Australian VC's.

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