The most prominent challenge managers and leaders face nowadays are recruiting talented employees and how to engage them and retain them. We’re all searching for new ways forward so that we can create innovative and engaging workplaces in today’s new normal.
I am happy to share my article for Ceoworld Magazine about how being a mindful leader can help foster engagement in the workplace. Enjoy!
Workplaces are phasing out of the transformation that began during the pandemic, and leaders are aiming to understand what’s next. We’re all searching for new ways forward so that we can create innovative and engaging workplaces in today’s new normal.
A March 2021 Microsoft study revealed that high productivity is masking an exhausted workforce. Over 40 percent of global employees are considering leaving their employer this year, a trend that we’re seeing called the Great Resignation in the media. Nearly one in five of their survey respondents say their employer doesn’t care about their work-life balance, 45 percent feel overworked, and 39 percent feel exhausted. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 4 million Americans quit their jobs in July 2021. Resignations peaked in April and have remained abnormally high for the last several months, with a record-breaking 10.9 million open jobs at the end of July.
Given these issues, the most prominent challenge managers and leaders are facing nowadays is how to recruit talented employees and how to engage them and retain them. This is especially the case in high-tech companies offering to their employees more perks than every before, such as Amdocs’ new unlimited vacation policy.
The question that arises around this appealing offer is whether it is the right approach to deal with the increased stress, burnout, and resignation levels we’re facing. We might wonder whether it is yet another manipulative way of engaging employees that has the opposite effect of its intent: will employees actually feel comfortable taking unlimited vacations, or will there be tacit pressure to resist this offer? This is a situation where, paradoxically, the company’s control over their employees’ time management could increase burnout and stress, because people won’t take time off for vacations for fear of seeming lax in their duties.
Overwork will continue to take place unless leaders address the heart of the issue. It is not enough anymore to rely on external rewards and perks. These simply gloss over the real challenge: the need for compassion and fulfillment in the workplace.
