The Rework Place: Making work mean something
3.99 million Americans quit their job last April. I repeat 3.99 million Americans quit their job last April. Anthony Klotz, a psychologist and professor at Texas A&M, called this the "Great Resignation” and attributed this mass exodus of employees to the growing existential crises brought on by the pandemic. He aptly points to the natural human instinct to reassess one’s place in the world, one’s purpose:
"From organizational research, we know that when human beings come into contact with death and illness in their lives, it causes them to take a step back and ask existential questions," Klotz said. "Like, what gives me purpose and happiness in life, and does that match up with how I'm spending my right now? So, in many cases, those reflections will lead to life pivots."
–Anthony Klotz
In a culture like ours, where what we do for a living inescapably defines how we feel about ourselves, it’s more important than ever for employers to proactively reengage with workers and do so with a renewed sense of purpose. By cultivating an inspiring place to work and a clear mission, one that extends beyond just making gobs of money, we stand a chance at not only reengaging our workforce, but reaching beyond our previous capacity for production and camaraderie. In short, we gotta make people feel something about their place of work.
We speak from experience. In our line of work the influx of stimulus has made it difficult to retain skilled people. We’ve always paid our people well but today we are looking to make our people see Live Oak as a place to not only work but grow. Through our Live Oak University program, we’re providing a clear path to upward mobility in an industry that has been relatively flat for skilled workers. The result is a place where our employees can learn new skills that translate to more pay. We’re working hard to create a workforce that sees the long term opportunity here at Live Oak.
One of the ways you can welcome your people, albeit employees, students and customers, is to create an environment that inspires. Surround your people with the renewing power of nature and See What Grows.