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OPINION
The impact of giving back
Giving back can be a valuable tool for attracting and retaining talent – and it gives employees a good reason to be proud of where they work.
I n the aftermath of the pandemic, as some things return to normal and some other things don’t, many workers are opting to leave unhappy workplaces for greener pastures. This “great resignation” is a concern for many firms, but it can also be an opportunity to gain new talent. The question is, how can your firm become a greener pasture? And what makes employees stay?
Julia DeFrances
If your pay and benefits are competitive, but your firm is still suffering from resignations or staff shortages, it may be time to look at your culture. One of the main reasons employees leave is because of burnout, which even well-meaning companies struggle to treat. Often firms focus too much on what individual employees can do about burnout, rather than addressing the cultural or organizational issues causing it. Encouraging self-care is good, but a lunchtime walk or daily meditation won’t make deadlines disappear. It won’t make your boss easier to work with or make you feel valued. If you truly want to transform your firm into a burnout-free environment that no employee wants to leave, you need to look at it from a firm-level.
Of the main causes of burnout, some have relatively straightforward fixes. An overworked and overloaded employee is more susceptible to burnout than an employee with fewer projects or deliverables, so you need to make sure you hire enough staff and say no to new projects if folks are frequently overloaded. Employees who aren’t recognized or rewarded for their efforts are at risk too, so make sure you acknowledge good work beyond the annual review. But what about more complex issues? Burnout can also creep in when employees feel their work is meaningless, when they feel their values don’t align with the firm’s, or when they feel no sense of
See JULIA DEFRANCES, page 4
THE ZWEIG LETTER AUGUST 29, 2022, ISSUE 1455
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