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The Great Resignation

  • 1.  The Great Resignation

    Posted 09-07-2022 05:22 AM
    Good morning colleagues!

    I hope everyone had a good holiday weekend! I'm late to post this week due to the Monday holiday and an all-day Deans Retreat yesterday, but I want to share something that probably many of us are experiencing.

    I recently googled trends in leadership and found "The Great Resignation" was ranked #2. This caught my eye because I received two faculty resignations in my first week as interim dean (no jokes, please!). I was talking with our university president last week at our opening college meeting and he commented that about one-third of the faculty at our university are new since the pandemic. This isn't just happening at East Tennessee State University. A whopping 4.5 million employees left their jobs by the end of 2021 so I'm pretty sure we're all experiencing this shift regardless of our work setting. Share how The Great Resignation has impacted your work place.

    Now, while millions of workers have resigned, they are also looking for stability in their workplaces because of the economic and political uncertainties. And what they're searching for is trust where they work. Trust is such an important currency and leaders don't want to risk losing trust capital. This is where strong leadership can be a differentiator – leaders are central in building trust in the workplace and among employees. This is such an important aspect that several companies are incorporating trust as part of their leadership development programs.

    As leaders, we know the importance of leading with facts and staying mission-focused. But we also understand that it is equally important to act with empathy and address people's fears. Leadership is a uniquely human endeavor and it is transactional.

    How has The Great Resignation elevated the need to address trust in your leadership?



    ------------------------------
    Lynn Williams, PhD., CCC-SLP
    (she, her, hers)
    2022 ASHA Immediate Past President
    Interim Dean and Professor
    College of Clinical and Rehabilitative Health Sciences
    P.O. Box 70282
    East Tennessee State University
    Johnson City, TN 37614
    p: 423.439.7469
    f: 423.439.4240
    e: williamL@etsu.edu
    ------------------------------


  • 2.  RE: The Great Resignation

    Posted 09-08-2022 03:21 PM
    Thanks for posting this Lynn!  It is a real issue and I agree that it is essential to build trust with all individuals in our teams.  I have found that being forthright and transparent as a chair has been key in gaining trust.  It has also resulted in a much greater team effort among everyone in the department.

    Janet
    Janet Koehnke, PhD, CCC-A, ASHA-Fellow
    Professor and Chair
    Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders
    Montclair State University
    1515 Broad Street, Bldg B
    Bloomfield, NJ  07003
    973 655-3305 (Voice)
    973 655-3406 (Fax)





  • 3.  RE: The Great Resignation

    Posted 09-08-2022 05:21 PM
    Janet, I love your comment that building trust has resulted in greater team effort. So trust is not just adding stability, but it's building community and collaboration -- which feeds back into stability. Thanks for sharing that!

    ------------------------------
    Lynn Williams, PhD., CCC-SLP
    (she, her, hers)
    2022 ASHA Immediate Past President
    Interim Dean and Professor
    College of Clinical and Rehabilitative Health Sciences
    P.O. Box 70282
    East Tennessee State University
    Johnson City, TN 37614
    p: 423.439.7469
    f: 423.439.4240
    e: williamL@etsu.edu
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: The Great Resignation

    Posted 09-09-2022 12:33 PM

    This is a great conversation, Lynn and Janet!  I heard a brief piece on NPR this morning related to employee turnover.  The person being interviewed (can't recall who, or what their credentials were) was talking about how people are looking for employers that demonstrate empathy for their employees, and that the lack of empathy was a large contributor to a person's decision to leave an employer.  I've learned so many lessons about the importance of being an empathetic leader during this pandemic that I will continue to carry with me.  In many situations, having empathy can help to create trust.   

     

    Margot L. Beckerman, AuD, CCC-A

    Assistant Director, Michigan Balance-Vestibular Testing and Rehabilitation

    Interim Assistant Director, Adult Audiology

    Department of Otolaryngology

    Michigan Medicine

    (734) 232-9399

     

    Signature-Marketing

     

    "Let us not return to what was normal, but reach for what is next."
    --Amanda Gorman, "New Day's Lyrics"

     

    **********************************************************
    Electronic Mail is not secure, may not be read every day, and should not be used for urgent or sensitive issues




    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: The Great Resignation

    Posted 09-10-2022 01:49 AM
    Thank you for this very important discussion! I've read and heard that after the pandemic people started valuing their quality of life more. They no longer tolerate poor treatment from their employers. They look for an organization and leadership that would be highly professional, sensitive to their needs, and where they can be heard without fear of retaliation. Professionals no longer tolerate mediocre financial reimbursement, insufficient staffing and resources, exhaustion on a regular basis and lack of appreciation. This pandemic's lessons are far from being over. We learn to value ourselves and others, earn trust, express empathy and genuine interest, listen to and hear each other, and maintain work & life balance. 

    ------------------------------
    Katia (Ekaterina) Bruno, MEd, CCC-SLP, BCS-S
    Platte Valley Medical Center, Brighton, CO
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    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: The Great Resignation

    Posted 09-10-2022 11:37 AM
    Katia, your message made me think about the leaders. We've focused on our role as leaders in building trust to mitigate "the great resignation." I'm wondering about resignations among leaders and the importance of trust capital among the leadership hierarchy. In academia where I work, we have Program Directors, Department Chairs, Deans, Provost, and President. How are we as leaders doing managing our own stresses while we're working to build trust for our staff or faculty?

    ------------------------------
    Lynn Williams, PhD., CCC-SLP
    (she, her, hers)
    2022 ASHA Immediate Past President
    Interim Dean and Professor
    College of Clinical and Rehabilitative Health Sciences
    P.O. Box 70282
    East Tennessee State University
    Johnson City, TN 37614
    p: 423.439.7469
    f: 423.439.4240
    e: williamL@etsu.edu
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 7.  RE: The Great Resignation

    Posted 09-10-2022 12:22 PM
    Ekaterina,

    Great observations!  I agree and have had conversations with several of my colleagues about these issues you mention. I think being sensitive to the needs of others is particularly important.  We need to understand, for example, issues that arise for our colleagues who have young children.  If we are not responsive to the things that come up for these individuals they may decide to find another position. Being responsive to situations like this is one of the key ways to ensure these individuals are comfortable in their workplace.
    Janet
    Janet Koehnke, PhD, CCC-A, ASHA-Fellow
    Professor and Chair
    Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders
    Montclair State University
    1515 Broad Street, Bldg B
    Bloomfield, NJ  07003
    973 655-3305 (Voice)
    973 655-3406 (Fax)



    Original Message


  • 8.  RE: The Great Resignation

    Posted 09-10-2022 08:44 AM
    In our school district, we used to experience high levels of turn over each year. As my colleague and I moved into our department leadership role, we have surprisingly been experiencing less even amidst this Great Resignation. I contribute this retention do to the trust we've built between us and our team of SLPs. It's been essential for retention to promote several ideas 1) create transparency, 2) create a space for advocating to leadership on their behalf, and 3) displaying compassion yet calling them to rise above adversity, especially through the COVID chaos. We've created ways to hear their input and create data-driven resources to guide decision-making so they can trust decisions are based on data and not opinions. Creating a team atmosphere (socials, silly/small raffles, team meetings relevant to their learning), weekly recognition (either privately or publicly), and coming alongside them when they're feeling overworked has been helpful for us to retain. If you haven't heard about Tina Boogren and her resources for mentoring (it's geared towards teachers but can be translated to the speech world easily), I highly recommend investing your time reading up on her stuff!  Or even having her come speak to your teams/leadership would be amazing! We still lose a couple people each year but not to the degree we used to thankfully!

    ------------------------------
    Jamie Mendell M.A. CCC-SLP
    Falcon School District 49
    Colorado Springs
    ------------------------------



  • 9.  RE: The Great Resignation

    Posted 09-10-2022 11:21 AM
    I'm enjoying reading the messages to this post -- and I'm struck by the critical importance of trust. Too often trust is given lip service without specific actions that can lead to trust. Jamie, thank you for sharing some specific goals and activities that you're doing as a leader. We can't just say we need trust and transparency, we must do the things that create trust. In other words, we have to invest in building/creating trust. The outcomes you shared demonstrate the value of that trust investment. I also appreciate the introduction to Tina Boogren's work. I just ordered her book, "Take Time for You: Self-Care Action Plans for Educators." I can't wait to read it!

    ------------------------------
    Lynn Williams, PhD., CCC-SLP
    (she, her, hers)
    2022 ASHA Immediate Past President
    Interim Dean and Professor
    College of Clinical and Rehabilitative Health Sciences
    P.O. Box 70282
    East Tennessee State University
    Johnson City, TN 37614
    p: 423.439.7469
    f: 423.439.4240
    e: williamL@etsu.edu
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 10.  RE: The Great Resignation

    Posted 09-10-2022 12:13 PM
    What about the latest wave made popular by social media, quiet quitting? How will this affect the progress of our field? What steps can individuals in leadership and research positions as well as ASHA do to divert this trend? 

    article on quiet quitting

    ------------------------------
    Ashley Munoz Lopez, MBA, MS, CCC-SLP, BCS-S
    Houston Methodist Continuing Care Hospital


    SIG 13│CE Content Manager & PDC Member
    Council for Academic Accreditation │Clinical Site Visitor
    Hispanic Caucus│VP of Social Media
    LDP Alumni & ECP Recipient
    ------------------------------



  • 11.  RE: The Great Resignation

    Posted 09-11-2022 09:36 AM
    Ashley, YES - QUIET QUITTING! Thanks for sharing the link to the npr article. I'm learning so much from this discussion and expanding my reading repertoire. I also just listened to podcast from a Brene Brown interview with an organizational psychologist about post pandemic work issues. It touches on many of the points we've raised in this discussion -- stability and trust, but also on aspects related to job satisfaction and happiness. If you have time, it's an interesting discussion and I believe addresses questions that Ashley raised about how to divert the trend of quiet quitting. "Employees are the new consumers" really shifts our perspectives as leaders.

    Here's the link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/08u8NEqVoaYeSIePrOqiF9?si=mzrwEBDZRG6AHjfj6lgESA&utm_source=copy-link.

    ------------------------------
    Lynn Williams, PhD., CCC-SLP
    (she, her, hers)
    2022 ASHA Immediate Past President
    Interim Dean and Professor
    College of Clinical and Rehabilitative Health Sciences
    P.O. Box 70282
    East Tennessee State University
    Johnson City, TN 37614
    p: 423.439.7469
    f: 423.439.4240
    e: williamL@etsu.edu
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 12.  RE: The Great Resignation

    Posted 09-11-2022 12:26 PM

    Lynn, Ashley, and Academy Colleagues:

     

    I also extend my thanks to Lynn for this important discussion connecting trust, empathy, quiet quitting, and quality of life to recent events that will continue to challenge our leadership to advance our professions. Lynn, I appreciated the link to the Brown podcast. The discussion outlined key issues for all of us to examine and discuss as we re-envision our workplaces and how they achieve our missions. The concluding perspective on using the workplace as a conduit for social change and creating better communities connected me back to an article that I recently re-read by Blixt on how to lead with vision. Blixt offers guidance on how leaders can inspire their teams to foster a future vision for their organization that is aligned with lessons learned as outlined by Brown and Sonenshein. This helped me connect trust, empathy, quality of life, and workplace inspiration to the power of visioning.

    What Leaders Get Wrong About Vision | by Al Blixt | Medium

     

    Bob

     

    Robert M. Augustine, Ph.D., CCC/SLP

    2022 President Elect

    American Speech-Language-Hearing Association

     

    Senior Vice President

    Council of Graduate Schools

    Washington, DC

    raugustine@cgs.nche.edu

     

     




    Original Message


  • 13.  RE: The Great Resignation

    Posted 09-12-2022 07:05 AM
    This is such an important topic.  I have been Clinical Director of a Pediatric Outpatient Facility for over 10 years but it was not until 2 years ago that I discovered the name for the type of environment I wanted my team members to be a part of- and that was one that was psychologically safe (thank you Brene Brown for the vocabulary).  This, no doubt, is one factor (albeit a large one) in working in a place that you trust.  I have always done my best to create that type of culture, and I am told that you can feel it when you walk into our building.  However, we still struggle with people leaving due to the way we work our schedule.  We have such a high need for afterschool coverage that therapists tend to treat until 6:30 or 7, 4 or 5 nights a week.  This is basically unsustainable for too long.  We are working on increasing daytime patients so we can lessen that afterschool demand, but it is a tricky balancing act.  In the meantime, along with doing all I can to keep people feeling safe, I tap into Simon Sinek's teachings and strive to help employees find their purpose and see if we can facilitate their achievement towards that- once again though, a balancing act is created bc finding the time in their busy schedules is not easy and ever since returning from the Covid shut down (where our office provided only telehealth for about 4 months) people cherish their time more than anything.  I am working hard at finding ways to motivate people to do things above and beyond, even if those things are in line with their purpose or passion - and there lies the "quiet quitting." 
    Thank you all for this thread- I look forward to reading more responses (and I am cued up to listen to Scott Sonenshein on Dare to Lead again this morning, so thank you for the reminder, Lynn!)


    ------------------------------
    Kelly Sheehan, MS, CCC-SLP
    Clinical Director, Abilities In Action Pediatric Therapy, Wall Facility
    Wall, NJ 07719
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 14.  RE: The Great Resignation

    Posted 09-13-2022 06:45 PM
    Kelly, thank you for sharing the struggle you're dealing with to balance client/patient needs with clinicians' life-work needs, while creating a psychologically safe work environment. You'll have to share your successes and challenges with us along your journey. I'm looking forward to reading Tina Boogren's book that Jamie recommended to learn about resources that I can incorporate to build community. It may be a good resource for others as well.

    Bob, thank you for sharing the article by Blixt on how to lead with vision. That's really the key -- as leaders we have to have a clear VISION that the resources and activities link to in order to build community. Without vision, those activities can just become "busy work" and defeat the purpose of building community.

    Thank you everyone for this rich and engaging discussion. I've valued your sharing of resources and ideas and have deepened my own understanding of the value of building trust capital.

    ------------------------------
    Lynn Williams, PhD., CCC-SLP
    (she, her, hers)
    2022 ASHA Immediate Past President
    Interim Dean and Professor
    College of Clinical and Rehabilitative Health Sciences
    P.O. Box 70282
    East Tennessee State University
    Johnson City, TN 37614
    p: 423.439.7469
    f: 423.439.4240
    e: williamL@etsu.edu
    ------------------------------

    Original Message