More than 4.3 million workers quit their jobs in January, and that was a slight improvement from the record-high 4.5 million who quit in November. The Great Resignation is affecting employers in virtually every industry, leaving recruiters and hiring managers in the lurch as they attempt to maintain even operational staffing levels.

But there’s a silver lining. As employers combat the Great Resignation, many have pushed themselves to offer better experiences to workers in an effort to quell quit rates. Today, I want to review three industries’ approach to the Great Resignation and the innovative solutions they’ve created in the process.

Long-term care: Combating burnout with benefits

According to a Duke University Medical Center analysis of U.S. nursing home data, employers can improve retention by offering benefits like health insurance and retirement. The analysis showed that nursing home employees were happy with their work but unhappy with their workplace. Of the 1,174 participating nursing homes, those with higher retention rates more commonly implemented programs like tuition fee payment and career growth opportunities.

Healthcare: Curing culture

The healthcare industry is experiencing the effects of the Great Resignation in a particularly acute way. A recent McKinsey survey, for example, revealed that more than 30 percent of nurses have contemplated leaving direct patient care. The stat raises an obvious question: How can employers convince them to stay?

In a February Harvard Business Review article, several experts discussed this very question. One solution they proposed: Culture. The authors referenced the Mayo Clinic, who asks all staff to assess the institution’s leaders in an annual survey by five kindness-building criteria. “Published research from Mayo Clinic shows that leading with these five acts of kindness was associated with greater employee satisfaction and fulfillment and lower levels of burnout among staff at all levels,” the authors remarked.

Sales: Coaching

LinkedIn Learning identified coaching as a key aspect of retention in a recent report. “According to LinkedIn data, employees at companies with high internal mobility stay almost two times longer than those who don’t,” the report said. “That’s extraordinary considering the impact of losing an employee in terms of both productivity and expense.”

This lesson isn’t lost on employers working in sales-facing industries. Salesforce recommends employers keep coaching consistent, focused and, most importantly, frequent. While coaching sessions are a great opportunity for feedback, they’re also an important moment for highlighting upcoming opportunities for growth and development. As Salesforce put it: “Reskilling, upskilling, and training your team is never a wasted investment.”

Conclusion

We’ve discussed three broad strategies employers in three unique industries have used to combat the Great Resignation. In reality, your business will need to pick up a combination of strategies to create the approach that best suits your goals and your talent.

No matter how your approach to retention breaks down, it must be personal and adaptable. To find out how PeopleBest can serve your team, book a demo and set up a time to chat with one of our specialists.

PeopleBest is a revolutionary, simple and powerful way to capture the exact ‘DNA of success’ inside people, teams and companies