How Chicago Companies are Adapting During the Great Era of Resignation

Written by Rene Mallari

Hiring the right employees for a business is almost always a struggle. Even under normal circumstances, finding the ideal candidate for any given position is a challenging process for many reasons. Since early 2021, getting the best-fit workforce has become even tougher for US companies, due to the continued trend of large numbers of workers leaving their jobs. This ongoing movement is often called the Great Resignation

What is the Great Resignation?

The term “Great Resignation” was conceived in May 2021 by Anthony Klotz, an associate professor of management at Texas A&M University. He says that the current COVID-19 pandemic created a set of circumstances that encouraged employees to quit their jobs en masse and reprioritize their lives and needs. 

An article in the Chicago Sun-Times website says the latest data from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS), the ratio of workers willingly leaving their jobs — also known as the quit rate — reached its highest at three percent in September 2021. 

BLS notes that 4.3 million employees, almost three percent of the total US workforce, voluntarily left their jobs in August. The highest rate was recorded in the leisure and hospitality industry at around six percent in September. From May to September, roughly 20 million workers left their employers.  

Certain industries are bearing the brunt of this trend. Especially in the customer service industry, the problem of high staff turnover rates has a negative impact on productivity and team morale, according to CustomerThink, an online community on business strategy. A staff shortfall also leads to a disruption in the customer service process flow resulting in lower efficiency and output. 

A recent survey released by London-based risk management company Willis Towers Watson shows three out of four employers in North America are struggling to hire and keep workers. The data is about three times higher than the reported difficulty in 2020. Companies also view that this situation will continue until 2022. 

Why is the Great Resignation happening?

The US resignation rate has been the highest seen in the past 20 years. Millions of domestic employees ranging from minimum wage earners to mid-career tech and healthcare workers are resigning from work. Low-paid employees with in-person duties represented the biggest share of resigners, according to BLS. 

Among the reasons why employees quit their jobs is insufficient safety and welfare for workers amid the pandemic. This prevailing concern has caused many to ponder their life goals and to willingly put themselves temporarily out of work. They want to spend more time with their families and extend more effort to personal matters.

Another reason workers leave is that a number of white-collar employees who are used to working remotely oppose the required company policies of going back to the office and doing in-person work. A toxic work environment, modifications in healthcare policies, unacceptable business practices or corporate values, and paltry wages and benefits are other factors that contribute to the Great Resignation. 

The sentiments of workers leaving their jobs can be felt on the subreddit r/antiwork, an online community discussion website on Reddit offering assistance with work-related struggles and posts about the personal experiences of people quitting their jobs, among others. The subreddit includes text messages revealing employees exchanging biting remarks with unreasonable employers before resigning. The Reddit sub reached almost one million subscribers in February 2021 and is said to be closely watching the Great Resignation phenomena. 

The Great Resignation strikes Illinois

The mass exodus of employees across the nation since early 2021 has spread to Illinois. The number of workers quitting positions hit an all-time high of 201,000 in August.  This accounts for 3.5 percent of the state’s workforce, according to the Illinois Policy Institute (IPI), a non-profit organization on public policy initiatives. 

Despite this figure, Illinois ranked only number seven in the Great Resignation wave. The mass resignation surge exacerbated the state’s already weak labor market. IPI reports that Illinois is one of eight states with more unemployed persons than available jobs. 

An article on the local web portal RiverBender.com website says that although job recruiting activity is at the same level with other states, Illinois is experiencing a rise in individuals leaving work, risking the state’s economic recovery.  

The latest public data show that more Illinoisans are resigning from or losing their jobs than are landing them. In August, about 1.15 persons lost work for every person hired, one of the country’s highest rates. 

In Chicago, Illinois’ most populous city and the third most dense metropolis in the US, the unemployment rate was recorded at 6.6 percent in September, based on BLS data. IPI notes that the report of finance website WalletHub shows that Chicago’s unemployment recovery rate was among the lowest (9.3 percent) in May. This was about a 140 percent rise compared to January 2020 (before the onset of the pandemic) and from May to May two years ago. The figure placed the Windy City at 172 of the 180 biggest US cities for unemployment rates recovery after the pandemic. 

How do Chicago companies deal with the Great Resignation?

To stay competitive amid this uncertainty, Chicago companies are drawing new strategies to address the challenges of hiring and retaining employees. Below are three of them:  

West Monroe

An article posted on the online business startup Built In Chicago website explains West Monroe’s way to retain employees

A consulting firm established in 2002, West Monroe adopts a dynamic system to job autonomy, which many employees look for nowadays to give them more freedom to work as they see fit. The company developed an effective approach to help workers direct their careers, so they could chart their own professional roadmaps. They are assisted by independent career advisors with their career development and periodic evaluation.  

Called Career Equity Framework (CEF), this approach includes a career equity assessment, career advisor, and a three-year letter.  

Sharing his own experience, Technology Director Chris Miller says CEF’s major element is the three-year letter, a professional tool with personal features. The letter allows employees to visualize their career and life paths over the next three years. It guides their goals, opportunities, projects, and planning. 

Miller notes that in his latest letter, he included not only his professional goals but also his life priorities, such as work-life balance and family. He has been with West Monroe for more than 10 years and has written three letters. He believes they helped him achieve his career and life goals. 

Lakeside Bank

Daily newspaper Chicago Tribune has presented several articles about how some Chicago-area businesses are adapting during the Great Resignation. One of them is Lakeside Bank, a community bank founded in 1966 that serves small and medium-sized businesses in the Second City. 

The financial company has a robust employee retention rate, according to Vice Chairman and President David Pinkerton, saying that one of the keys to hiring and keeping workers is a favorable workplace environment. He adds that the firm only recruits staff who are in for the long haul and can understand its culture. It avoids job hoppers, preferring to hire employees who try to “find a home.”

Human Resources Vice President Patricia McNulty notes that the bank’s culture stays away from micromanagement, making it a sought-after employer. The employees have certain degrees of freedom to do their duties and can easily access management if they have questions or concerns. 

Carrum Health

Built In Chicago also features a Chicago-based healthcare firm that has managed to retain valued employees since the Great Resignation. Carrum Health, a company that started operations in 2014, has expanded its workforce to almost 100 from the original staff of 16 who worked there around seven years ago. 

Chief Operating Officer Dan Nardi says the high increase in staff hiring began in March 2020 when the company decided to shift to a fully-remote work environment. He attributes this job growth to expanding its geographies and changing the interviewing processes to include video settings and meetings. 

Nardi believes that among the main factors keeping people in their jobs for so long is the camaraderie among coworkers — how employees relate with others in the workplace. He adds that management listening to employee concerns and feedback as well as company benefits or effectively implemented programs are also factors that satisfy and retain employees. 

Hiring and retaining employees during the Great Resignation 

David Grossman, founder and CEO at the Chicago-headquartered consultancy firm Grossman Group, advises that one way to retain workers during the Great Resignation is for companies to offer more flexible work arrangements. Businesses should take into account that more employees are opting to work from home (WFH) and a dual work model — on-site and WFH – should be offered to all whenever practical.  

Companies should also invest in the latest office phone systems to help them find the right employees. Carolina Digital Phone, a VoIP service provider in North Carolina, says the new office phones enable recruiters to connect with job seekers anywhere. Regardless of the location, hirers can communicate with candidates through video calls, instant messaging, and emails.

Cool Things Chicago
Logo