Surviving the great pause: Here are some tips for employers

While not everyone is a fan of pop terms created to describe current workplace trends, I am.

The catchy phrases are often created by consulting firms or trendspotters to attract media attention, but I often find that they’re based in reliable data and point to some real issues facing employers and employees.

The most recent workplace phenomenon has been dubbed, “The Great Pause.”

The term refers to employees staying put in their jobs rather than testing the waters of the employment market. According to the hiring platform Employ, who coined the new term, those actively looking for a new role dropped from 42% to 35% after rising the previous year. People report they have lost trust in the job market due to fake job postings, AI screening tools, and ghosting by employers.

Unlike the many “Great” trends since the pandemic (including the “The Great Stay” which came just before the current period), employers should not just hang tight in the hope that this too shall pass. This is the time for meaningful action.

There are many ways to improve your organization’s ability to engage and retain current employees — and to attract and hire the quality applicants brave enough to apply for open positions. Consider these:

Provide learning and development opportunities. This can include an array of options including in-person and virtual training, upskilling through new or expanded responsibilities, and cross-training with other departments.

Open lines of communication and improve transparency. Employees want to know what’s happening in the business so that they can effectively contribute. Given the explosion of AI and its implications on the workplace, it’s more vital than ever to keep employees informed, set expectations, provide tools, establish guardrails, and share use cases.

Seek employee feedback on your culture. Do they feel challenged? Supported? If not, why? Perhaps it’s time to invest in management training or individual coaching to shore up underperformers and boost consistency across the organization. Remember the old HR adage: “People don’t quit jobs; they quit bad managers.”

Review and revise your hiring process. Have you taken a recent look at your applicant experience? You should. Many jobseekers have lost faith due to specific experiences when applying for open positions. Remember, your organization’s reputation can be renewed or eroded based on how you treat even those you don’t select for hire.

Utilize AI judiciously. Arguably, many employers have not fully vetted technology platforms and applications and have not carefully considered all the implications of using AI in their hiring and selection processes. This could create risk both culturally — and legally, with several states, including Illinois, actively enforcing AI legislation.

During “The Great Stay,” most employees reported being genuinely satisfied in their positions and content to stay put. But the atmosphere has shifted. We now see employees marking time in jobs they’re not satisfied with or engaged in. It’s a recipe for disaster when it comes to productivity, morale, and retention.

If you’re an employer, organizational leader, manager, team lead, or supervisor, it’s an environment that should give you reason for pause — but only in thought, not in action.

• Mary Lynn Fayoumi is president and CEO of HR Source in Downers Grove.