The “Great Resignation”, Impact on Business Continuity, and Mitigation Strategies

 
Disaster recovery is a broad subject; the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has made organizations understand one facet of it even better: attrition. Though the attrition rate worldwide was a great concern even before the pandemic, the pandemic aggravated the scenario and thus manifested as “The Great Resignation”. This huge attrition hugely affected several industries, including retail, hospitality, technology, manufacturing, healthcare, etc.
 

Impact of “The Great Resignation” on companies and employees

The recent COVID-19 pandemic proved to be a health crisis and had an adverse effect on organizations’ stability. When most parts of the world chose full or partial lockdowns, some companies were driven to close their operations. And the financially unsound companies were highly affected; several companies witnessed their supply chains paused, a fall in the demand for their products and services, and inadequacy in supplies and inputs. Organizations in arts, entertainment, and recreation faced a government-mandated shutdown. Due to the unexpected shutdown of organizations, employees couldn’t afford the cost of living in cities/prime residential localities. Their long-term livelihood and well-being were at risk.
 
At present, COVID-19 cases have decreased to a manageable level, and some businesses have started working from office again. From an organization’s perspective, returning to office will also assist in taking care of pivotal business operations. However, while organizations ask employees to return to work, several employees leave at this juncture. Some were delighted with the promises of flexibility and remote work and didn’t want to return to the office; the absence of commutes and cost-savings was favorable. Hence, organizations are faced with the significant decision of taking a prudent step if most of their employees don’t wish to return to work.
 

Challenges in facing high attrition rates for businesses

When governments are easing restriction and movement of people, and as offices open, the management finds it a tough task to fill the spaces with employees. Besides, businesses could be affected by poorly managed locations where orders or services couldn’t be processed when customers pile up in the office and increase to the pre-COVID level. Businesses can make the best use of opportunities in disasters if they follow the foremost step: being prepared. Customer needs can change dramatically during and after crises, and it becomes a pressing need for organizations to address this concern.
 

The need for an HR Business continuity plan

The COVID-19 crisis has demonstrated that an all-encompassing approach must be integral to a robust and effective pandemic response. The plan should include documents for the resumption of daily business activities once the crisis is over. Businesses should understand business risks and map out major processes at the outset. The HR team should be made a pivotal part of the disaster response.
 
An HR business continuity plan that considers staff retention is essential for all organizations. For example, in a healthcare organization, when there is high attrition, patients will be at serious risk due to delays in getting medicines and inefficient safety governance. Moreover, there will be a loss of innovation.
 
Sometimes even the most diligently prepared BCP is never wholly impeccable. Despite an organization’s best endeavors, some disasters like huge attrition are too complex to be mitigated. Having an HR business continuity plan for public health crises will help an organization recover from the crisis with minimal damage.
 
There is no sense in the HR team doing attrition analysis when some vital employees have already left. This should have been done earlier itself. HR teams should have predicted the possibility of high attritions and might have had strategies in place to reduce the impact. Knowing why and how attrition happens and embracing the challenge of mitigating attrition can help reduce its effect on an organization.
 

Mitigation strategies for attrition

Knowing why and how attrition happens can help reduce its effect on an organization. Here are some mitigation strategies for attrition that will help in better employee engagement.
 

Business Process Automation (BPA) and Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

Making overall processes more efficient from end to end is the underlying objective of BPA. BPA is generally the initial step in an organization’s automation lifecycle. While BPA adheres to a more holistic approach and is an organization-wide focused automation, RPA assists organizations by streamlining departmental and individual tasks. That said, the objective of BPA and RPA is to develop more efficient workflows. If organizations reduce too much dependence on employees by introducing automation, even if employees resign, the business will run with fewer employees without much impact. And the key employees can be involved in building relationships with clients, assisting existing customers, carrying out complex decision-making, developing good products that are innovative etc.
 

Outsourcing to different geographical locations

Besides reducing operational costs and streamlining operations by simultaneously handling crucial functions, outsourcing to other geographical locations helps organizations grow without too much dependence on employees in the same location. It helps in the continuity of an organization while maintaining an efficient level of operation.
 
Attrition can be a natural and healthy aspect of business operations as long as it is controllable or within the defined limits. When attrition poses a challenge to business continuity, it will leave organizations shattered and take time for them to bounce back. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced organizations to reassess how their businesses operate and how employees provide the needed customer experience similar to the pre-COVID period. When there is an HR business continuity plan that even includes mitigation strategies, organizations would be better positioned to face any disaster. After all, you can’t predict when a grave illness, accident, or disaster like pandemic will occur. However, you can have a carefully prepared plan for what should be taken care of should one happen.