2021: VOTE FOR CHANGE ..?

So my boss calls me in, last month, and tells me that he would like me to think about writing a blog by way of a poll/survey for the company website …….“and try to zhuzh it up…. make it interesting!” he tells me ….Hmm…. So I could speak about the ‘Lockdown’ and ‘bubbles’ etc, but to be honest the quicker that this year passes and the hope that we all have for ‘normality’ returning, a review about the events of 2020 are probably the last thing anyone really wants to read about.

Our company’s ‘recruitment clock’ kept stopping and starting throughout 2020, so I thought what would be interesting, is to investigate what our network of education ‘followers’ had on their minds, in terms of career, for the upcoming 12 months.

The education sector typically weather’s the financial ‘slings and arrows’ better than that of the commercial sector, and I am very happy to report that the majority of people that we speak to are still working within the same school/company that they were from the start of this year. But how do they feel about the coming year? Is it a case that one should remain with the ‘devil’ they know, or did Lockdown give people the time for reflection and perhaps a new direction? Time for a vote….

The two platforms that I used were LinkedIn personal and company page and Twitter. We asked four questions about the coming year:

1. No plans to move on at the moment.
2. Looking to move on in Qtr1 or Qtr 2
3. Wait until Summer 2021
4. Other

THE RESULTS

Option A (No plans to move on ) –  Linkedin 28%  – ESP Linkedin page 25% and Twitter 46%.       

Option B (Looking to move in Qtr1/Qtr2) –Linkedin 41%  –  ESP Linkedin page 50% and Twitter 31%                          

Option C (Waiting until Summer 2021) – Linkedin 18%  –  ESP Linkedin page 25% and Twitter 23%                               

Option D (OTHER) – Linkedin 13% – ESP Linkedin page 0%  and Twitter 0%

Though Twitter slightly skewed the scores/percentages, maybe because unlike Linkedin and our own company website, the Twittersphere tends to be a platform where anyone and everyone can vote. However, that said, the Twitter result wasn’t that out of kilter with the Linkedin results which, as you can see, are quite similar in their deductions.

CONCLUSION

My thoughts on this poll are rather struck by the fact that by this time next year there COULD be between 60-75% of our target audience moving on, certainly the desire is there. I appreciate that the science isn’t conclusive- and yes, we are in recruitment.

That said, when I first started this survey I really did think that given the terrible events of 2020, most people would just want to ‘batten down the hatches’ and wait at least 9-12 months before considering a move. It appears that the strongest drive to leave will be in the first two quarters.

Finally, to any hirers who are reading this piece, it might be worth thinking about the “Super Three” reasons why your staff might want to be moving on :

Nowhere to go to /growth in your company : Some of your staff are very happy working in their ‘comfort zones’, whereas some people are very ambitious, do you recognise this ?  If you have the space, in your day make time for ‘mini reviews’/ chats with your staff. They might see this as an opportune time to open up to you expressing where they think they are going or what pathways might be open to them.

Poor Management: Of course we are not talking about you (as if ?!) ….. Surveys have found that there is a high percentage of staff leaving companies due to a breakdown in communication between management and staff. Maybe it is time to seek outside help/training for your managers? Having a good manager is vital to any organisation.

Stress/Burnout: According to a recent poll 23% of staff are exhausted at work, makes you think. If there is a Wellness programme at your school be sure that this is well signposted. Pay attention to other people’s needs – not everyone can start work at 8am or finish at 5pm – attempt to be as adaptable as you can. Try and have more flexibility with people’s Start/Finish times, and –  as we realised this year –  one really can work from home. 

Finally , to all the ESP followers, let us all hope that this nightmare year will all soon be forgotten in the coming months and that from all of us at ESP  –  do have a very happy Christmas and a much more normal, healthy and brighter new year to come.

Steve Simms