An ongoing challenge that businesses across the country are facing is short-staffing. At the start of the pandemic, many employees were furloughed or lost their jobs altogether, sending millions to unemployment. As our country has opened back up again, many of these workers have not returned to work en masse, despite the termination of their unemployment benefits. Even those who have stuck around through the pandemic have been resigning as well, as many are now hoping to find new and better employment opportunities elsewhere. Business analysts have taken to calling this phenomenon The Great Resignation.
These departures appear to be highest among mid-career employees: “Employees between 30 and 45 years old have the greatest increase in resignation rates, with an average increase of more than 20% between 2020 and 2021,” according to the Harvard Business Review. “While turnover is typically highest among younger employees, […] resignations actually decreased for workers in the 20 to 25 age range (likely due to a combination of their greater financial uncertainty and reduced demand for entry-level workers).”
For many businesses, employees in that age range include their veterans and their managers. The loss of these employees can be difficult to overcome, a veritable brain-drain. This is why employee retention is now as critical as it has ever been. Finding ways to recognize and reward those who stay is important, but it also behooves us all to make sure we don’t let employees leave acrimoniously. Departing employees may come back one day, after all—but even if they don’t, word gets around. A business needs to protect its reputation among customers and employees both, or they will have neither.
Given all this trouble, many short-staffed businesses are presented with a difficult choice: lower quality or less quantity. Financial pressures are directing many towards the former, which has resulted in poorer customer service. As Shep Hyken describes it, “companies are forced to ‘skimp’ on the quality and service customers have come to expect. It’s not that they want to do it. They have no choice.” The term for this situation that’s been floating around is skimpflation.
Consequently, we should all strive to maintain as much quality as possible, even if the result means a drop in quantity. To illustrate, Hyken describes going out for breakfast: “There was a line, yet there were a number of open tables. I asked the manager why we couldn’t be seated. He apologized and said they couldn’t staff the dining area properly. Rather than deliver a poor customer service experience, they felt it was better to shut down part of the restaurant.”
While having to wait longer is unideal for customers, and there’s a risk that some patrons will simply leave, a subpar customer experience is a worse option. Even in the best of times, no business can afford to let their reputation suffer. We all have to remember that we’re bridging to a future where all of this is put behind us, far off as that may feel sometimes.
As Abraham Lincoln once observed, “It is said an Eastern monarch once charged his wise men to invent him a sentence, to be ever in view, and which should be true and appropriate in all times and situations. They presented him the words: ‘And this, too, shall pass away.’ How much it expresses! How chastening in the hour of pride! How consoling in the depths of affliction!”
Situations are ephemeral: that’s an important lesson, whether your business is booming or struggling. Be ever vigilant; be ever focused on delivering the highest quality customer experience possible, and by offering a great working environment for your employees. Success is the residue of hard work.
As you contemplate how to apply this wisdom in your own business, consider reaching out to us at The Brandt Group. The customer experience is our obsession, and its something we’re eager to share with our clients. Together, we can double-down on what your business does best, and help correct what it struggles with. Please feel welcome to explore our website to learn more about what we do, and we’ll be happy to talk to you when you’re ready. Together, we’ll overcome these hard times and maximize the good ones. Let’s talk about how!
