Approaches to the Great Resignation

COVID-19 changed the way we work. One of my higher education mentors, Perry Robinson, used to say, “in higher education what we cannot do in salary we work to make up for in flexibility and time.” COVID-19 changed the way we view flexibility such that modality of work versus just time out of the office is a different way of considering flexibility. While I know there are mixed feelings about a team’s productivity as a result of being in the office as opposed to working remotely, speaking from my own experience, our team rocked it.

Outside of peak student interaction periods, we provide our team with the opportunity to work remotely. We even found some students prefer virtual meetings. I know our flexibility has attracted talented employees from other areas of the institution as well as other institutions.

Some of our success I believe is because of the culture we built prior to the pandemic. I wrote before that I believe there are two types of people – retreat people and not retreat people. Being a retreat person, prior to the pandemic, our entire team met regularly to level set, celebrate successes, and look ahead. I believe this fostered a culture of belonging where people knew they were valued and added value – even in the peak of the pandemic.

In our strategic plan, we also articulate that one of our priorities is to “invest in and provide paths for professional growth” for our team. That means no dead-end jobs and fostering opportunities for people to professionally grow and develop.

In addition to encouraging our team to pursue education outside of the office – associates, bachelors, as well as master’s degrees, we offer an Emerging Leaders program for our rising star professionals. It is a cohorted program where each of our functional areas is represented. Individuals are recommended by their area lead. The group meets monthly and hears a leadership presentation from individuals on campus whose leadership philosophy is consistent with my own – a values-based leader. People from finance, IT, HR, and DEI areas for example. In the presentations, the facilitator also talks about his/her functional area, so the cohort learns about other institutional operations. At the end, we hold a lunch graduation where everyone receives a certificate and a book on leadership.

For graduates of this program, we also offer an Immersion program where individuals from one functional area can shadow an individual from another functional area. Each area lead approves the experience knowing the timing of the immersion depends on the peak periods in each area. The shadowing generally lasts 2-3 months and involves the individual doing some hands-on project. Graduates from the area have stayed with us longer versus looking for opportunities outside our area. It is a great talent retention tool.

The institution also started a leadership program where I sponsor people. Its foundation was grounded in our Emerging Leaders program. Here members also get paired with a mentor from another area on campus. No harm in sharing good ideas.

From a belonging perspective, I also conduct a new team member meet and greet so I have the opportunity to level set and communicate our culture, my leadership philosophy, and our priorities. This also allows me to share why each new team member matters. The new people also get to meet people from other areas, so it gives them a broader view of the work we do and who people are. There is a social element too as each person gets to share their story of how they came to work with us. It truly is the favorite part of my day when we hold these sessions.

So have we had people leave us because of the great resignation? Absolutely. But I am convinced that we are working to help people grow professionally and prepare them for doing good work in our area or wherever they want to be professionally. In the end, putting people in positions where they can be successful and watching them flourish is the most fulfilling.