In this article, we'll understand what great resignation means, the causes, and how it applies in the African setting.
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First and foremost, I’d like to say a happy new month to all our esteemed readers — the Fuzulets. And I hope in the past three months, you’ve been fortified with new knowledge to improve yourself, your career, your immediate community, and the broader society. You must remember this heads-up from my friend and mentor, Socrates: “The purpose of knowledge is action NOT knowledge.” He sums it up pretty daintily there. In my opinion, that’s probably the general theory of learning and education; Improve the self and the environment.
Let’s roll!
The great resignation, what’s that?
Ha! I bet you’d ask. But you may already have an idea. Semantics, please. It’s great to ask. I love to ask. Great resignation simply means a sustained mass resignation or a resignation on a monumental scale. It was coined by an American professor of management, Anthony Klotz in May 2021, it describes a phenomenon where there’s an unprecedented and abnormally high number of people quitting their jobs.
Great Resignation, expectedly, occurs in climes where there’s a surfeit of economic opportunities and a shortage of labor. When there’s a high degree of employee turnover, it only points to one thing – an abundance of jobs to re-absorb any number of resignations. Nobody (at least mentally sound, with all the bolts and screws all in place) would consider quitting their job if securing a new one would be impossible.
Looking at the great resignation in the African context, the resignation of employees en masse may not necessarily be attributable to a saturation of vacancies waiting to be occupied. Perhaps quite the opposite in certain climes. Employees here tend to suck it up and soldier on under conditions they consider unhealthy – physically and mentally.
Because handing in your resignation letter may not be an option – due to high unemployment levels in many African countries. Nevertheless, I don’t mean to say mass resignation of employees cannot occur in the African setting. However, if it happens at all (despite weak economic fundamentals), it is probably likely, due to many other factors but the assurance of the continuance of one’s career.
Great resignation vs. remote work
The geat resignation is in full swing in the west and parts of Asia and was triggered in no small part by the Covid-19 pandemic that caused a sweeping retrenchment of employees across industries worldwide. The downturn in economic activities and transactions sabotaged the financial stead and fortunes of many organizations which caused a reduction in salaries and layoff of workers. The remainder of the employees had to work on a hybrid basis while others were fully remote. The practicality of remote work forced many employees – especially millennials and the Gen-Z – to quit their full-time, on-site jobs in torrents; to embrace the eager arms of remote work.
Employees seeking better work-life balance promptly subscribed to the idea of working remotely to create more time for self and family, reap savings on daily expenditure, and the avoidance of the nerve-wracking 9 to 5 rat race. I guess it was a huge reprieve! A cosmic arrangement that allowed the old-guard corporate gaffers to understand that remote work with its distributed teams sometimes produced better results than on-site workgroups. Organizations that are not able to make a complete transition to remote staffing have allowed for flexible work scheduling or a hybrid form of work.
Causes of great resignation
The following are the major causes of mass resignation in recent times:
Wage stagnation
Stagnation of wages arises from a weakened competitive landscape and lowered output. In situations where there's a high level of unemployment and employees find it difficult to secure jobs elsewhere can make wages stagnate and perhaps see a reduction. An instance is during the lockdown, many organizations suffered losses due to the decline in economic activities. Organizations cut their budgets drastically and a massive layoff of workers ensued. Making payroll got difficult hence the downward review of wages and salaries.
The Covid-19 pandemic
The pandemic caused quite a panic across the world and the assault of the contagion had everyone wear a “helmet” and run for cover. Employees voluntarily resigned and organizations took measures to keep their staff's physical proximity as wide as possible, literally. You could walk into an office and the handful of employees present would be spread out like the 4 – 3 – 3 team positioning of your country’s world cup soccer team. So much for keeping safe, I guess.
Work-life balance
Employees looking to strike a balance between work commitments and creating ample time for private life and family matters would be attracted to jobs with a flexible schedule and remote work opportunities.
Do managers have a role play in the great resignation in Africa?
Workers in Africa may not be spoiled for choice when it comes to job alternatives. But they’ve got resilience and a fair bit of permissiveness to condoning bullshit (big thumbs up). I like to think every person has a tipping point; a limit to how much nastiness they can withstand. It is built into every individual and comes in various degrees.
Some folk flare up at the slightest provocation or malfeasance, some are able to shake it off and let it slide. Others have the rare and enviable capability of bottling it up like a miniature distillery until things reach a critical mass and they unload pent-up anger, scorn, and sometimes grand stupidity. In any event, workers in these parts usually quit (by any margin) due to cultural or systemic reasons.
Workers sometimes have to deal with obnoxious managers and horrible bosses. Employees that have to interface with unempathetic bosses whose manners and actions claim a considerable toll on an employee’s mental wellbeing. And negatively impact individual productivity in more ways than one. Such environments are usually toxic and gloomy. And riddled with all sorts of inhibitions that make career growth difficult and employees don’t feel compelled to do their best work.
A vicious cycle on a corporate level I suppose. Workers in such situations find the only recourse in sending in their resignation (sometimes by a mobile text message or if they woke up feeling slightly happier, a curt, go-f**k-yourself email does the trick.)
To sum up,
So yeah, leaders do have a hand in the great resignation and bosses can do a lot better to ensure their staff is invested in the organization. Not everyone has an appetite for nonsense. Later guys.
Related: Resigning gracefully
