{"id":18915,"date":"2021-08-25T16:59:01","date_gmt":"2021-08-25T20:59:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/?p=18915"},"modified":"2021-09-09T15:06:57","modified_gmt":"2021-09-09T19:06:57","slug":"great-resignation-retain-creative-talent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/originals\/great-resignation-retain-creative-talent\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Keep Your Team Together During \u201cThe Great Resignation\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading Time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\">6<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span>\n<p>Almost 4 million Americans decided to leave their jobs in June. Two months earlier, The Bureau of Labor Statistics recorded its highest number of resignations since it started keeping records in 2000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A year of lockdowns, mask mandates, and WFH has brought about &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.inc.com\/phillip-kane\/the-great-resignation-is-here-its-real.html\">The Great Resignation<\/a>,&#8221; encouraging many people to take a deep look at their lives and reevaluate where and how they want to work. Those who decided to leave their jobs might have found it surprisingly easy to strike out on their own, thanks to increased hiring for both full-time and freelance work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The temptation to find greener pastures is especially compelling in the creative industry, where a freelance career is just a resignation letter away. So if you\u2019re a creative manager tasked with keeping your team happy and delivering results for the organization, what can you do?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2>Why Workers are Quitting<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Before worrying about how to keep your team together, consider why employees are interested in quitting in the first place. Chief among the reasons is the ability to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/originals\/remote-working-ultimate-guide-2020\/\">work from home<\/a>\u2014according to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mckinsey.com\/business-functions\/organization\/our-insights\/what-employees-are-saying-about-the-future-of-remote-work\">survey<\/a> from McKinsey, about 30 percent of respondents said they would likely switch jobs if their current employer didn\u2019t offer a flexible work option.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s no surprise that a lot of people loved working from home. The reasons range from no commute, to geographic flexibility, to increased family time, to being able to do <a href=\"https:\/\/www.calnewport.com\/books\/deep-work\/\">deep work<\/a> without the distractions in an office. In Salt Lake City, which has been a magnet for people fleeing larger cities, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msn.com\/en-us\/money\/realestate\/median-home-prices-in-salt-lake-county-keep-skyrocketing-here-e2-80-99s-how-much-they-will-cost-you-now\/ar-AAMHDdx\">home prices have jumped 29% in a year<\/a>, and it\u2019s almost impossible to find a house for sale. Return to office mandates are falling flat, and when push comes to shove, many creatives are choosing not to return to an office.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"position: relative;width: auto;padding: 0 0 73.86%;height: 0;top: 0;left: 0;bottom: 0;right: 0;margin: 0;border: 0 none\" id=\"experience-6126aa6aafad0\" data-aspectratio=\"1.35382956\"><iframe allowfullscreen=\"\" src=\"\/\/view.ceros.com\/ceros-marketing\/test-pull-quote-2-2-2-1-1-2-1-1-1-1-1-2-1-1-1-1-1-3-2-1-1-1-2-2-2-3-1-1-2-1-2-1-1-2-2-1-2-1-3-1-3?heightOverride=927\" style=\"position: absolute;top: 0;left: 0;bottom: 0;right: 0;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: 0 none;height: 1px;width: 1px;min-height: 100%;min-width: 100%\" frameborder=\"0\" class=\"ceros-experience\" title=\"Great Resignation PQ1\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/div><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"\/\/view.ceros.com\/scroll-proxy.min.js\" data-ceros-origin-domains=\"view.ceros.com\"><\/script>\n\n\n\n<p>Additionally, sitting at home for a year really gave Americans a chance to rethink their priorities. Many people have moved, many have undertaken new creative pursuits, and others have found new skills or interests that developed into passions. Whatever the individual reason, many workers in suboptimal job situations reached their breaking point in 2020 and are starting to feel empowered to find the right place for them. With many open jobs and businesses hungry to get back to normal, there are more opportunities to change one\u2019s work situation than we\u2019ve seen in years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My team is doing what it can to ensure that everyone is healthy, happy, and engaged with work\u2014but sometimes, employees still quit. It happened to me recently. What to do then?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2>Embrace Change&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>When an employee quits, take their feedback to heart. Then, take steps to ensure you won\u2019t be dealing with a mass exodus on your team. Lamenting the fact or spending too much time wondering what you could have done is sunk cost. It\u2019s time to nurture and retain the rest of your team.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3>Be Clear About Why Someone Quit<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>While some details might require privacy due to HR guidelines, do what you can to keep the situation as open and transparent as possible. Share the reasons people quit and talk about them openly. See if others on your team are struggling with the same issues. Be clear about what you are doing to address those reasons and make sure you follow through.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3>One-on-Ones with Everyone<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>When a member of my team quit recently, we announced it to the team in a group setting and let them all take a minute to process the news. Then we jumped straight into one-on-one conversations with the team. We talked about people\u2019s concerns, fears, and any other issues they wanted to bring up. We asked them open-ended (but specific) questions, like their thoughts about how the individual leaving might impact their workload\u2014that gave us better answers than simply asking if they had any questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"position: relative;width: auto;padding: 0 0 73.86%;height: 0;top: 0;left: 0;bottom: 0;right: 0;margin: 0;border: 0 none\" id=\"experience-6126abf48eb99\" data-aspectratio=\"1.35382956\"><iframe allowfullscreen=\"\" src=\"\/\/view.ceros.com\/ceros-marketing\/test-pull-quote-2-2-2-1-1-2-1-1-1-1-1-2-1-1-1-1-1-3-2-1-1-1-2-2-2-3-1-1-2-1-2-1-1-2-2-1-2-1-3-1-3-1?heightOverride=927\" style=\"position: absolute;top: 0;left: 0;bottom: 0;right: 0;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: 0 none;height: 1px;width: 1px;min-height: 100%;min-width: 100%\" frameborder=\"0\" class=\"ceros-experience\" title=\"Great Resignation PQ1 Copy\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/div><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"\/\/view.ceros.com\/scroll-proxy.min.js\" data-ceros-origin-domains=\"view.ceros.com\"><\/script>\n\n\n\n<p>Over the next two weeks, we held less-formal one-on-ones to gently tease out any other issues we needed to address internally. We still asked those open ended questions to tease out honest answers in these casual conversations. Where we once had a united view on being in the office all week, we all (including me) talked about how we missed some work from home time. We\u2019ve all adjusted our schedules to be in the office when it makes the most sense and home the rest of the time.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3>Small, Cross-Functional Team Projects<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Establish ways for your team to work together on interesting projects. That\u2019ll&nbsp; build trust and understanding, ultimately leading to a stronger team.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A few members of my team are doing a typography project, a couple of others are exploring animation and motion graphics, and a couple of the developers are writing a new WordPress plugin. None of these projects directly impact our clients right now, but they raise our overall abilities and keep the creative team engaged.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We found teams of two people with similar interests on each of these projects but who haven\u2019t worked on projects directly together before. It\u2019s serendipitous that we have a designer and a developer that were individually interested in motion graphics. We have a freshly graduated designer who matched up with a more veteran UX designer who both needed to hone their typography skills. They were all given a choice to work on it with the note, \u201conly if it sounds like fun,\u201d and we\u2019ve seen more light and laughter in an office that was shocked by the loss of one of our crew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3>Treat it Like a New Beginning<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s not just the creative industry that\u2019s hemorrhaging workers. I talk to my clients every day, and most of them have a similar story of people leaving lately. While it\u2019s tempting to feel sorry for yourself when you\u2019re covering extra workloads and rescheduling projects, it\u2019s also a time to reassess the structure and dynamics of your team.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One client is using the opportunity to completely rethink how their department runs. After a conversation with them, I realized we needed something different in the role we are replacing. Instead of bringing in another lead designer, we\u2019re focusing on a true creative director position\u2014someone who is a great designer in their own right\u2014but who is also interested in growing a creative services team. Someone with a good focus on mentoring, positive critiques, and developing the skills and confidence of other creatives.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2>Retain Creative Talent&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Creative leaders should always look for ways to keep their teams happy and motivated. Whether your team is back in its office or everyone\u2019s settling into long-term remote work, the manager\u2019s job is to focus on keeping your team balanced, productive, and satisfied.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3>Try the \u201cBack of the Napkin\u201d Brainstorm<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/hbr.org\/2008\/09\/solving-problems-with-your-pen.html\">back of a napkin<\/a>\u201d is where so many great product and startup ideas first came into being. This simple team building exercise replicates this tiny canvas, giving participants something fun to do while promoting teamwork and creative thinking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style='position: relative;width: auto;padding: 0 0 231.5%;height: 0;top: 0;left: 0;bottom: 0;right: 0;margin: 0;border: 0 none' id=\"experience-6130d510520a6\" data-aspectRatio=\"0.43196544\"><iframe allowfullscreen src='\/\/view.ceros.com\/ceros-marketing\/napkin-exercise?heightOverride=2315' style='position: absolute;top: 0;left: 0;bottom: 0;right: 0;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: 0 none;height: 1px;width: 1px;min-height: 100%;min-width: 100%' frameborder='0' class='ceros-experience' title='Napkin Exercise ' scrolling='no'><\/iframe><\/div><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"\/\/view.ceros.com\/scroll-proxy.min.js\" data-ceros-origin-domains=\"view.ceros.com\"><\/script>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3>A Good Creative Project&nbsp;<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Sometimes, creative teams get sucked into focusing on QBRs, OKRs, and other confusing, goal-oriented acronyms. But it\u2019s good to stop and remember why we\u2019re all here\u2014we are <em>creatives<\/em>. We\u2019re here for the art as well as the business. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"position: relative;width: auto;padding: 0 0 73.86%;height: 0;top: 0;left: 0;bottom: 0;right: 0;margin: 0;border: 0 none\" id=\"experience-6126acd03e7dd\" data-aspectratio=\"1.35382956\"><iframe allowfullscreen=\"\" src=\"\/\/view.ceros.com\/ceros-marketing\/test-pull-quote-2-2-2-1-1-2-1-1-1-1-1-2-1-1-1-1-1-3-2-1-1-1-2-2-2-3-1-1-2-1-2-1-1-2-2-1-2-1-3-1-3-1-1?heightOverride=927\" style=\"position: absolute;top: 0;left: 0;bottom: 0;right: 0;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: 0 none;height: 1px;width: 1px;min-height: 100%;min-width: 100%\" frameborder=\"0\" class=\"ceros-experience\" title=\"Great Resignation PQ3\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/div><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"\/\/view.ceros.com\/scroll-proxy.min.js\" data-ceros-origin-domains=\"view.ceros.com\"><\/script>\n\n\n\n<p>Creatives quit jobs for the same reasons as other workers, like toxic culture and career stagnation, but one of the biggest reasons we leave is boredom. We want to be creative! We want to solve problems, and we want to try new approaches. If a creative employee feels that fire is dimming, they won\u2019t hesitate to make a move.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To stoke your team\u2019s fires, assess the workload of each member. Does everyone have a high-creative project to chew on? Probably not\u2014so this is a good opportunity to create those projects. If you\u2019ve got a teammate doing deep UX work on a complex project, like I do, consider another project that can activate the more creative side of their brain. That teammate is also starting work on a high-concept internal design project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3>Creative Team Best Practices<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Think beyond this moment and a single project and ensure you are putting good processes in place to support and nurture your creatives. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/alicecarleton\">Alice Carleton<\/a>, Head of People Potential at Ceros, shares the advice to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Encourage true collaboration in brainstorm sessions at the start of a project.&nbsp;<\/li><li>Empower autonomy by being especially clear in your creative briefs so designers can feel confident and motivated by the trust and autonomy that can follow.&nbsp;<\/li><li>Facilitate open and candid\u2014and always respectful\u2014debriefs following each major project. Encourage everyone involved to share insights, wins, and opportunities.&nbsp;<\/li><li>Model vulnerability as a creative leader to create safe space to identify key learnings without fear, blame, or politics.&nbsp;<\/li><li>Provide effective critiques by giving and receiving feedback well. Effective feedback loops have a huge impact on morale and motivation, as well as continuing to level up and do even greater work!<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3>The Office Environment<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>How and where we choose to spend time together has a lot to do with how much we want to be in the office. My agency recently moved into a new location, and the one thing we all agreed on was that the coffee had to be superb\u2014yes, it was <em>actually<\/em> that important to us\u2014and that our favorite drinks and snacks had to be on hand all the time. We chose a location that had a lot of lunchtime food options within walking distance.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you have control over the environment your team works in, now is the time to invest in proper accommodations\u2014the ones that bring delight like excellent coffee and the ones that accommodate your team\u2019s needs, like good chairs, good lighting, and adequate sound abatement.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3>Staying in Sync<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Finally, if you\u2019ll be dealing with some teammates working in person and some staying permanently remote, consider what you can do to accommodate the WFHers. It can be easy to make the remote workers feel like second-class citizens\u2014they don\u2019t get to speak as often in meetings and don\u2019t get those \u201cwater cooler\u201d moments that in-office employees have. Ensure that remote workers get equal opportunities, get access to all the latest information, and feel like a connected part of the group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2>Bonus Lesson: The Grass Really is Greener<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Endings are all genuinely new beginnings. Wish your exiting coworkers well and focus your efforts onward and upwards. While people leaving is always difficult, it can often give you an excellent opportunity to adjust your team for a brighter future.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style='position: relative;width: auto;padding: 0 0 62.16%;height: 0;top: 0;left: 0;bottom: 0;right: 0;margin: 0;border: 0 none' id=\"experience-5f2c7bc26c2c1\" data-aspectRatio=\"1.60869565\" data-mobile-aspectRatio=\"0.97560976\"><iframe allowfullscreen src='\/\/view.ceros.com\/ceros-marketing\/get-industry-report?heightOverride=460' style='position: absolute;top: 0;left: 0;bottom: 0;right: 0;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: 0 none;height: 1px;width: 1px;min-height: 100%;min-width: 100%' frameborder='0' class='ceros-experience' title='Industry Report' scrolling='no'><\/iframe><\/div><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"\/\/view.ceros.com\/scroll-proxy.min.js\" data-ceros-origin-domains=\"view.ceros.com\"><\/script>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"myclass\">If you\u2019re a creative manager tasked with keeping your team happy and delivering results for the organization, how can you achieve that?<\/div>\n<p><!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":109,"featured_media":18933,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v15.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to Retain Creative Talent in &quot;The Great Resignation&quot; - Ceros Inspire<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Creative managers have to keep their teams happy and deliver results. 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