Since the COVID-19 pandemic, ‘the great attrition’ has been an important topic. As with any crisis, this is also an era of great opportunity: opportunity for change. Moving away from ‘the great attrition’ and towards ‘great opportunity’, requires us to engage in ‘the great conversation’. Once we start investing in truly understanding each other, through dialogue and from a place of curiosity, that’s where the real magic happens.
Now, more than ever, we are working together with people that are unlike us. First of all, there are four generations interacting in the workplace: boomers, Gen X, millennials and Gen Z. Without tarring everyone with the same brush, each generation has a certain way of looking at the world as a result of the (work) environment they grew up in and the challenges, or the lack thereof, people faced in their lifetime. This has a material impact on how we work together and what we expect from each other: “You should do as you’re told” and “You should make this relevant to me” are mindsets that co-exist and that can lead to tension and frustration, especially when these expectations remain implicit. Second, the diversity in the workplace increases (hurray!): more and more people from different backgrounds, beliefs, preferences and ideals working together. This results in the need to make a deliberate effort to understand each other: we can no longer assume that we think alike and therefore ‘guess’ what our colleagues think or need.
This brings me to a related gap that can also be bridged by gaining a better understanding of each other: the gap between what employers think employees value and what is actually valued. Looking at the drivers of people that quit their jobs, McKinsey found1 a striking mismatch between what employers assumed was important and what the leavers indicated their drivers were. Work-life balance is the only driver that both the employers and the leavers ranked as ‘most important’. All of the other drivers that the leavers ranked as ‘somewhat important’ or ‘most important’ were ranked as ‘less important’ by the employers: being valued by the manager, a sense of belonging, having caring and trusting teammates, potential for advancement and a flexible work schedule.
Zooming in on the legal industry, similar to the drivers found in the McKinsey report, the SRA Workplace Culture Thematic Review2, mentions the following as characteristics of a positive workplace culture: employers regularly engaging with employees and seeking their feedback, inclusivity, core values lived by everyone and supportive, collaborative teams. This is what people want, but not necessarily what employers focus on. The Dutch Legal Top Talent Survey 2022 shows that 86% of the legal departments and 70% of the law firms in the Netherlands experience substantial or very substantial consequences of the great attrition. Also, it reports that atmosphere and colleagues are the most important drivers for starters in the legal market and that international opportunities and modern fringe benefits are seen as less important.
We live in a day and age where people expect, want, bring and need different things in the workplace and where a significant percentage of them will leave if they don’t feel included, supported and valued. The only way to understand these different needs and expectations, is to talk and listen to each other. This is the ‘great conversation’ that will lead us to the land of opportunity. So, let’s talk!
1 ‘Great Attrition’ or ‘Great Attraction’? The choice is yours, McKinsey Quarterly, September 8, 2021.
2 Published by the UK Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) in February 2022.