Retention issues: Tackling ‘Great Resignation’ in Finance

If you were hoping retention issues would disappear in Finance this year, you’re going to be disappointed.

According to a recent study done by GoodFirms, retention issues are likely going to continue into 2022 as The Great Resignation rages on.

The pandemic has many people re-examining their priorities. Things like recognition and a healthy work/life balance are more important to employees than ever before.

Why companies are having retention issues

Per GoodFirms, 22% of employees are planning to leave their current jobs this year, and nearly 30% are considering it.

So what specifically is driving employees to quit?

Here are the top reasons that GoodFirms’ survey found for retention issues.

1. Employees want flexible work options (70%). This ranges from full-time remote work to the ability to work nontraditional hours. Many employees can’t fathom doing the old nine-to-five in an office five days a week.
2. Employees don’t want to contract COVID-19 (38%). Thanks to the highly contagious Omicron variant, people are more afraid of getting COVID-19 at work than ever before. If employers continue to push people back into the office, they may lose them.
3. Employees want to stay home (34%). Some people didn’t like mixing work and home, but a good portion do, and they want to keep it that way. Some of the main reasons employees like remote work include no commute time, fewer expenses, easier to deal with sickness or chronic illnesses and the ability to do chores or side jobs.
4. Employees feel stressed and burned out (31%). Workers are stressed out. And a big part of that is because many companies didn’t adjust policies or expectations throughout the pandemic. So employees tried to work just as hard as before, despite being stressed and worried. Within this group of people, 23% feel depressed and 16% say their workloads are overwhelming.
5. Employees think they can find better job opportunities out there (17%). A lot of people are reevaluating their career goals and what kind of company they want to work for. Additionally, 21% of employees aren’t pleased with their current company’s career development opportunities.

How to boost retention

Focusing on internal opportunities for career growth might be one good way to alleviate retention issues and keep your top Finance pros.

Only one-third of employees looking for a new job explore opportunities at their current company, according to a recent Gartner survey.

And that’s partially because they don’t trust the company to give them a fair shake in the hiring process.

Besides the trust issue, half of employees aren’t even aware of internal advancement opportunities at their company.

Here’s how Gartner recommends employers can correct this.

• Make it easy to explore job openings. Employers can use technology to help map out career advancement paths at the company for employees, allowing them to see how they could grow.
• Encourage people to share their preferences. Ask each employee about their interests. This way, even if there are no current job openings that match their preferences, there are candidates available when new jobs open up.
• Create notifications. As soon as a new opportunity arises, notify any employees who’ve expressed interest in similar positions.