You have probably grown tired of hearing about it—the Great Resignation. Of course, here I am to write about it.

A recent study by McKinsey showed that two in five 2 in 5 employees are “likely” to leave their job in the next 3 to 6 months, even if they don’t have another job.

Let that sink in. Never would have thought you’d see that, even 3 years ago.

McKinsey’s point is that employees have a choice, but so do employers. Companies can stay with what they do now and tread water…or companies can adjust to become attractive places to work and gain a disproportionate talent advantage. As always, first movers win more.

I don’t want to be the “it’s not a problem, it’s an opportunity” guy. I hate that guy. Because it’s going to feel like a problem for much of the time, either way. There are just other ways to look at it. For example, your “OK fits” might leave—people who are average but not bad enough to fire. Someone swimming around in the Great Resignation Pool might be a really good fit, and the possible removal of geographic restraints means a bigger pool. The catch is those really good fits will want to know their new employment is truly different and not just the same old thing in refurbished clothes.

Poppulo has a recent whitepaper (“The Ultimate Guide to Employee Retention: It’s All About the Communication Experience”) out and it’s an excellent survey of the landscape, including the research from McKinsey cited above and others from PriceWaterhouse Cooper.

It’s really interesting and brought a few thoughts to mind.

It’s Mostly Communications, but Not All

Poppulo notes that compensation still matters, along with training and development, workplace flexibility. And communication. Just to note, this does not fall only on our shoulders.

Talent is Recognized As a Bottom Line Issue Now

It always was, though often the biggest investment was in lip service. It’s an imperative now:

Note the impact on customer experience. We had a tendency to view resignations as negative solely because of replacement costs. Here we get a fuller picture.

You Probably Don’t Understand What Your Employees Want (And You Need To)

The McKinsey research identified a clear “disconnect” between what executives think they want and what employees want

The headline is that “relational” factors are more important to employees than their bosses think.

You won’t find the answer for your company from McKinsey, though. You will find it from talking to your employees.

The catch is that the true two-way communication that is needed to make this work will only come forward in a culture of psychological safety. That will need to be the first part of your culture shift. With time and demonstrated performance, you can build the trust you need.

Treat Your Employees like Sales Prospects

What do you do with a sales prospect, especially near the bottom of the funnel? You research them. You listen to them. You address their concerns and design your offer to land them.

And with a customer you are trying to retain? The same, right? You listen. You monitor. You engage. You try to act proactively, before there’s a problem..

That’s what you need here. In Poppulo’s words:

Yes, larger companies will struggle to scale this, and Poppulo talks about ways to segment your employee audiences and still be better than the old, “one newsletter for everyone” school of IC.

But think about this. Would an employee leave your big company for a smaller company because of the more close-knit feel?

Apply Your Strategic and Creative Muscle

Two things here. FIrst research indicates that many companies are underperforming because of “disjointed” multi-channel communications. An “omnichannel” strategy where the channels reinforce each other is really table stakes.

Second. High-quality communication is needed. Put this up on the wall.

Time to get busy.

Operational communications, more facts

I saved the one that will make you most uncomfortable for last. The report says that today’s employee wants to have a fuller range of operational facts about the business. That’s going to be a big shift for a lot of companies who have held employees way below a “need to know” basis. You will have to share the good news and bad news and then deal with the consequences of either. It will be a lot of work.