It is being called the "Great Resignation" or "The Great Awakening". These terms describe a global phenomenon that sees record numbers of people quitting their jobs as the world recovers from the pandemic. This exodus reached four million U.S. workers in April, which is 2.7 percent of the total workforce. It was the highest rate since 2000. According to a Wall Street Journal headline, "Forget going back to work. People are just quitting instead." Experts predict another wave of resignations. A Microsoft survey found that 40% of global workers are considering quitting their job this year. A Prudential survey found that 53 percent of respondents would consider retraining if they had the opportunity. Kevin Roose stated in a New York Times article titled "Welcome To the YOLO Economy." He said that the dreadful and anxious feelings of the past year have given way to a new type of professional fearlessness.People are clearly reevaluating their options and many stories mention burnout as the main reason. It's not surprising. Asana conducted a study of 13,000 knowledge workers in eight countries and found that 71% had suffered from burnout over the past year. Axios spoke to Melissa Swift, Korn Ferry's global leader for workforce transformation, who said that "we basically burnt out the global workforce in the last year." Switching employers is one way people cope with burnout.The phenomenon is not explained by burnout, even though it is a very widespread and deep problem. We were already experiencing an epidemic of burnout before the pandemic. The pandemic gave us the opportunity to reflect on what is most important and where work fits into our lives. We have had the time to think about what makes us thrive and which aspects of our pandemic lives are important to us in our future post-pandemic.This is to say that there is something more at the core of this great awakening: A collective redefinition success. We became less connected to the global definition of success when so many aspects of our lives were disconnected from the outside world. This was true regardless of whether we had the opportunity to work at home. People are realizing that success is not based on our rsums and the status of our money. It's like being on a two-legged stool. Soon or later, we'll fall off. We are seeing a shift in how we live our lives. This includes a more satisfying, intrinsic, sustainable definition of success. It also adds the third metric of wellbeing -- resilience and the ability to tap into our inner peace, joy and wonder. The intangibles that make life worthwhile have become much more tangible after this forced pause. People who have experienced this third metric over the past year of lockdown-inspired reflection are not ready to let go. However, if they do, they will be willing to find a job that allows them to connect with it.There are many reasons for the Great Receipt/ Awakening. Abha Bhattarai, a Washington Post journalist, reported on the record 649,000 retail workers who quit the sector in April. Here's Aislinn Potts, Murfreesboro, Tennessee explains why she decided to quit her job as a pet owner to concentrate on her writing. A dead-end job is not worth my life."Millions are emerging from the pandemic. A global study published in Frontiers in Medicine has shown that people are more anxious and depressed now than ever before. Karen Lynch, CEO of CVS Health, warned that there is a "post-traumatic Covid disorder" and will continue to be a problem. If you are feeling depressed and need to make a difference in your life, and you're married with children and have children, your job is probably the easiest thing to do. As stressed people are more overwhelmed by the things we cannot control, they tend to be more focused on what is within their control.Employers have no other choice than to embrace the Great Resignation/Awakening with record 9.3million jobs available right now. We are no longer living in a world of "why well-being" in the HR world. We are now in a "how” world. It's obvious that the "how", not perks like in-house DJs and extravagant office buffets is about introducing mental and emotional well-being policies.We need to be able to integrate well-being and recharging into our work and lives, not just looking for an antidote. As welcome as well-being weeks or mental health days are, they don't suffice. We must go beyond ad-hoc, episodic well-being interventions. Recharging should not be viewed as a reward for hard work and exhaustion. Science has shown that being recharged allows us to be our best, most productive and most creative selves. It is the basis of any strategy to achieve both a broad definition of success on a personal level as well as a sustainable business definition.Next, we will embed well-being in the fabric of daily work experiences. This will allow us to adjust our workflows and stress levels as needed. This is the heart of Work.com's partnership with Salesforce. It's about fundamentally changing the way employees can access well-being content and Microsteps, as well as tools such Reset, which is a popular feature in our Thrive App that allows us to adjust our course and lower stress in 60 seconds. We embed them into the daily workflow so that people have the right tools at the right time. This helps employees improve their productivity and performance by allowing them to be more productive. Marc Benioff, Salesforce founder and CEO, spoke on my podcast What I've Learned about why this type of shift is important as we recover from the pandemic, and return to a different way of working than the pre-Covid model. He said that he had to find a new way to manage my company. We have to give our employees new skills, such as mental health skills... Unlock them so that they can be productive and successful."Recharging is becoming a more important part of companies' business strategies. Sundar Pichai (CEO of Alphabet, Google's parent company) announced last month that the company would continue to offer additional "reset" days to help employees recharge. Citi offered employees the chance to go on a "Citi Reset Day" on May 28th. Hootsuite has announced a "Wellness Week", and Bumble, a dating app, is offering employees a week off to help with burnout.It is great that companies recognize the importance of well being and the dangers associated with burnout. People have been doing this for years, burning out and then taking a few days off to rest. Then they return to the cycle of burnout again. The only difference is that the highs or at least the lows have become more extreme. Robert Half's survey found that 25 percent of workers will lose paid time off in 2020. 44 percent feel more burnt out than a year ago. 57 percent also believe they need to take a long "awaycation" from work to recharge their batteries.
