Slow Down to Speed Up

Slow Down to Speed Up with Culture Change

Right now, you might be thinking a lot about the Great Resignation and Quiet Quitting, because your organization’s turnover feels out of control- here's how to change that.

Want Stronger Employee Retention? Slow Down to Speed Up with Culture Change

Right now, you might be thinking a lot about the Great Resignation and Quiet Quitting, because your organization’s turnover feels out of control. Many think that desperate times call for desperate measures, but I want you to think differently about where we are right now. Don’t be tempted to rush into action, especially action that is thought up in a vacuum.

It is so easy to freak out right now when demand for services is high, but the people to deliver on your services are at a scary low. It is a very human reaction to want to solve the problem that is in front of you. I’d challenge you to show up differently. When other similarly-situated businesses are taking a crazed posture of doing the next “in” thing to improve their culture and retain their employees, I want you to do one thing: Slow down to speed up.

How do I propose you do that? Well, there are two specific actions you should take:

1)The slow-down part requires that your entire leadership team pause through the chaos and take stock of what you already know to be true about what your employees and customers want from you.

You know a little bit about how to get out of this situation through the ways that you have listened to them. You trust that they have your best interest at heart. Lean into that by reflecting as a group on what’s next, understanding that deep knowledge. Quick decisions to make a change, unless they are really urgent, will not serve your organization well.

2)Second, make sure that whatever you plan to do to rebound from this place of loss, and maybe even fear of the unknown, you include more of your team in the decision-making, not less.

I cannot overstate the importance of inclusion in this context. Inclusion in the broadest sense is making sure that those at work feel like their voices are heard and valued. How do they know that? When you include them around the table when deciding which moves you will make to improve the culture and, most hopefully, retention. Often, your employees, and customers, for that matter, feel like things are happening to them and are out of their control. Think about how much more empowered and aligned they will feel to your organization when you think of and use their feedback and ideas to fuel your next iteration of the workplace. Then, they will feel like things are happening with them, not to them. 

We can all get excited about an organization that includes the voices of all, makes everyone feel bought into a new way of showing up, and places nothing above the value of slowing down to speed up to ensure that more people are on the bus and that they are driving in the same direction. That’s the kind of culture that makes the Great Resignation and Quiet Quitting a thing for ‘others’ to worry about. It will simply escape your organization. Have fun creating that thoughtful and open culture! See you on the other side!