Should I Stay Or Should I Go?
Phones, laptops, headphones, monitors, televisions, billboards, fitness trackers.
Phones. Laptops. Headphones.
Phones. Laptops…
Oh, sorry. I’m repeating myself.
I must’ve been sat here for an hour now, trying to write this silly little blog. But all I can see are distractions. There are screens everywhere. People looking at screens. People touching screens. People gathering around screens.
We’re increasingly surrounded by things that want to steal our attention. When there are all of these voices, messages and ideas circling around us, it makes it hard to focus on one thing for any significant amount of time.
Platforms like Instagram have discovered how to thrive in such an environment: cut your losses by only sharing short-form content, make that content as bright and brilliant and loud as possible, and ensure there’s an endless stream of it.
You may have noticed that the paragraphs in this blog are short? That the sentences are snappy? Well that’s because brevity is hot right now. God it’s hot.
It’s so hot, in fact, that it’s even affecting the way we view our careers.
Why job-hopping is the new career norm
People simply do not want to stay in one place for too long. We increasingly yearn to move, to progress, to experience the latest this and the newest that. As a result, the median job tenure decreased by almost 11% between 2012 and 2022.
I think it’s fair to say that, nowadays, nobody wants to be like their Uncle Simon, who’s worked in the same accounting firm for 35 years. And while he might try to persuade us that he’s enjoyed staying put, I doubt many people would be interested in hearing what Simon says. This is especially the case for young people, with 22.3% of gen-Z changing jobs every year.
What drives younger generations to leave jobs?
This is partly down to the fact that younger generations are deeply entrenched in the high-speed worlds of social media. For us younger folk, we’re more used to everything being fast - our entertainment, our commute times, our food, our WiFi. So, when our entire society yearns for movement, staying in one place feels counterintuitive.
In his book ‘The Anxious Generation’, Jonathan Haidt argues that there are high levels of anxiety amongst young people - thanks John - and that this is because we’re raised on smartphones, rather than Lego.
We therefore have a constant insight into the lives of others. So, when millennials and gen-Z enter the workplace, we can’t help but compare our paths to those trodden by others. Suddenly, your job’s salary, perks, and coffee machines feel lacking. You don’t have an office dog? Tragic.
The risks and rewards of career mobility
It’s especially brutal for young people entering the workforce. The 2023 Youth Voice Consensus found that, with such a competitive job market, only 38.5% of students believe in themselves. Pair that with rising costs—£7 for a pint, bread up 19% year-on-year—and they’re scrambling for the first rung of the ladder. It’s the holy grail… Until they reach it.
Then, it’s often a huge disappointment.
Having accepted a role they’re not interested in, or has no room for improvement, or is paying them a pittance, it’s no wonder they start to look elsewhere.
This is compounded by the fact that, everyday, they’re seeing their peers posting about their flashy new roles on LinkedIn.
The grass is always screener. Sorry, greener.
And so the lyrics come to mind:
Should I stay, or should I go now?
Should I stay, or should I go now?
If I go, there will be trouble
And if I stay, it will be double
The risk of leaving your job is high - but many believe the downsides of staying are even greater. You could say, therefore, that there's been a shift from rat race to cat race; people are more aware of what they want, more discerning in what they settle for, and more ambitious in what they pursue. There’s less space, nowadays, for a dedicated pilgrimage straight up the ladder.
How employers can retain talent in a fast-moving world
Is there anything, then, that employers can do about this?
Well, yes. And no.
The first stage is acceptance. In this world of fleeting eyes and scrolling thumbs, people don’t want their careers to be born and pass away in the same place, like a Victorian villager. As an employer, that’s a little frustrating. But there are things you can do to strengthen your gravitational pull, so that your talent are not simply swept into the orbit of the first new thing they set their sights on.
Gallup recently reported that the average global employee engagement rate is sitting at a measly 23%. That means 77% of employees are left wanting more. To capture the attention of their people - especially more mobile, younger talent - companies therefore need to demonstrate how they will accommodate this desire to experience something better, or something new.
This means developing an employer brand that employees resonate with. It means establishing a culture that can evolve to meet evolving expectations. It means creating exciting progression pathways that point the way to fresh experiences and fulfilling development. It means fostering a workplace that is warm and welcoming. And, ultimately, it means stepping into the boots of your employees, so that you can ensure they remain on your turf rather than floating off to a competitor.
Ferris Bueller said on one of his famous days off: “Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” Keep this in mind. It's a natural impulse for all of us to pause and take stock. So, it might come as a nasty surprise that, after all this, your people may still want change. But that shouldn’t mean they need to change companies.
Being more open to internal mobility, to people working across sectors, and to your employees mentoring or being mentored by others, will all drive retention.
At Wiser, we’ve got a rainforest in the office, we get a breakfast buffet every morning, and we have our own ‘Happiness Team’ to ensure everyone experiences joy on an astonishingly regular basis. But these are not the only things that keep us engaged.
It’s also the fact that we’re able to experience change without jumping ship. There’s a different attitude to work here, where a job becomes a place you go to seek out new opportunities, not just to look at screens and sit on dreams.
This is also an attitude we help our clients create. By changing the way people think about work, we change the way people experience work. As a result, we increase retention rates, boost engagement, nurture trust and drive attraction.
In this game of staying and going, it’s important that people don’t keep scrolling just because the person next to them is. And, at Wiser, we know what it takes to have a truly thumb-stopping employer brand.
