The Covid-19 pandemic profoundly altered the world of work as we know it, and acted as a catalyst for an underlying trend that had been emerging for several years. It began with a major loss of jobs in 2020, then generated a form of awareness that led to what we call the Great Resignation, a phenomenon born in the USA, which pushed many employees to leave their jobs, creating a labor shortage in many sectors of activity, such as catering. the hotel and transport industries.
Then last year saw the emergence of a phenomenon that experts believe is a continuation of the Great Resignation: “Quiet Quitting”. It’s not a resignation as such, but rather a motivational resignation, which consists of doing the bare minimum in one’s job without leaving it.
“People don’t excel at work and are content to meet their job description”.
Gallup
While some people ended up resigning during the pandemic, other workers may have wanted to see a change in their jobs, but didn’t get it in the end. Overwork, lack of consideration and a poor work-life balance are some of the main causes leading employees to quiet quitting.
And for those employees for whom quiet quitting doesn’t suit them or no longer does, we are now witnessing the emergence of a trend known as “conscious quitting”. Employees decide to leave their company or organization because they no longer feel in tune with the company’s values, or because they consider that it is not having a sufficiently positive impact on the planet or on society in general.
Paul Polman, the former head of Unilever, described this phenomenon as a real time bomb, when he published the results of a survey of 4,000 workers carried out in the USA and the UK earlier this year.
“Any CEO who thinks he’s going to win the war for talent by offering a little more money, a little more working from home and a gym membership is going to be disappointed. An era of conscious resignation is upon us.”
In his view, companies that do not embark on a genuine process of “environmental and social responsibility” today “will not be able to catch up”.
What does this BAROMETER tell us?
In essence, the message is that the vast majority of recruitment and talent retention strategies miss the bigger picture. While better pay, greater flexibility and greater well-being remain at the heart of employees’ demands, they omit their human dimension, among which many feel a need for meaning and fulfillment. In these troubled times, with wars, pandemics, global warming and a tense social climate, many people, especially young people, have real fears about the future of the world they will inherit. “What’s the point of wasting time working for a company that doesn’t interest me?”
A few figures:
- 2 out of 3 employees in the UK and 3 out of 4 in the USA want to work for a company that has a positive impact on the world.
- In the United States and the United Kingdom, nearly two-thirds of employees believe that companies’ efforts to tackle environmental and societal challenges do not go far enough. Many people think that CEOs and senior managers don’t care.
- Nearly half of employees say they would consider resigning if the company’s values did not align with their own, even in the current difficult economic climate.
- A third of employees say they have already resigned for this reason.
ALL THESE FIGURES ARE EVEN HIGHER FOR MILLENNIALS AND GENERATION Z.
Another survey published at the beginning of April by Unédic, the organization that manages the unemployment insurance scheme, reveals that eight out of ten workers in France would like their work to be in line with the climate challenge.
What are the risks?
The collective For an ecological awakeningwhich brings together students from prestigious schools such as Sciences Po, Polytechnique, HEC, AgroParisTech…, has been calling on companies to respond to the climate emergency since 2018, and it seems highly likely that these students and their successors will boycott companies that have not made a shift towards social and environmental responsibility.
The risks for companies that ignore this should be obvious: ignoring the expectations and needs of current and future employees will make your company less attractive and ultimately less successful, with less committed and less productive employees.
On the other hand, a commitment to responsibility not only satisfies employees and ensures their motivation and loyalty, but also helps to build a more sustainable, responsible and profitable company. This is what we call a “net positive” company, as Paul Polman explains, one that thrives and creates long-term value by giving more than it takes.
HOW TO DO IT?
“They want to put their time and skills at the service of companies that have a positive impact on our planet and our societies, and that offer hope. Many see that their employers are striving to be ‘less bad’, but they also see that it’s not enough. “
The report identifies three ways of achieving this.
SETTING HIGH AMBITIONS Businesses need to be more ambitious about their values, commitments and impact Whether it’s climate targets or promoting equity and inclusion, the private sector still isn’t doing enough, fast enough. Genuine ambition means setting the goals the world needs, not those that are easy to achieve, and it also means companies engaging in collaboration with their sector’s businesses, governments and other stakeholders to drive systemic change.
COMMUNICATE
Management teams need to communicate more and better on environmental and social measures taken. Two out of three employees say they want their company to communicate more about the measures it takes (67% in the UK, 66% in the USA). Communication with employees will have a strong impact on their sense of belonging, their involvement and their productivity. Outside the company, communication represents a formidable weapon in the battle for talent and the employer brand.
EMPOWER The barometer shows that more than half of UK and US employees want to play a greater role in helping their company do better (53% in the UK, 60% in the US). This figure is even higher for employees from generations Z and Y (64% in the UK, 66% in the USA). Still, it’s very good news to realize that many employees want their company to take up the challenge of sustainability, and they also want to contribute to it.
