Are People Really Refusing to Work?

They call it the “Great Resignation” or the “Great Refusal to Work”. Whatever we call it, the unemployment rate in April 2020 was 20 percent and now it’s less than 5 percent. Small business owners report an increasing difficult to find people especially in the service industries. In addition, their turnover rate is at an all-time high.

On The Small Business Radio Show this week, I talked to Roberta Matuson, president of Boston based Matuson Consulting, who is a workplace strategist that helps organizations attract and keep the best people. She’s the author of six books, including the bestselling, “Suddenly in Charge” and “Evergreen Talent.” Her new book, “Can We Talk: Seven Principles for Managing Difficult Conversations at Work”.

Roberta says that the “Great Refusal to Work” is a lie; “the unemployment subsidies isn’t the reason you can’t find people; they have not stockpiled that money away. People are now looking at all the opportunities available and they don’t want to work for that company or take that kind of risk in that industry. How do you explain that Apple isn’t having a hard time finding people to work in their stores, but Macy’s is? It’s not because they don’t want to work, they just don’t want to work for you”.

Roberta suggests that small business owners should become “talent magnets” and work on their brand as an employer. She adds that it’s not just about paying them well. They need to practice “concierge hiring” where the CEO gets involved in hiring their key executives; Roberta adds that when the CEO calls, it makes more of an impact; “you have to be the one to shepherd this talent into your organization.”

To retain your team, you as a business owner must become a “magnetic leader- someone they will follow in this job and the next one”.

Listen to the entire interview on how to attract and keep your employees on The Small Business Radio Show.

Image: Matuson Consulting

This article, "Are People Really Refusing to Work?" was first published on Small Business Trends