ESSENCE:  We believe the mass exodus of workers being called the “Great Resignation” can more appropriately be called the “Great De-Humanization“, not only for what caused it but also for what it is causing.  A recent study concluded that “toxic work culture is the single best predictor” of which organizations suffered the most attrition.  It seems people left organizations with business as usual cultures that were de-humanizing.  Sadly, because God made people to work, and we are less fully human when not reflecting our God-given creativity and productivity through work, the de-humanizing impact was exacerbated by the resignations.  People who resigned left one de-humanizing situation (a toxic work culture) for another de-humanizing situation (no work).  But we believe the Great De-Humanization is an opportunity for faithful leaders to begin a Great Re-Humanization by leading faithfully through business a better way.  The Great Re-Humanization will require leaders with a RENEWED understanding of God’s purpose for work and business who have the courage and conviction to RE-IMAGINE and RE-ALIGN the purpose, values and culture of their organization to be in alignment with Biblical beliefs, values and priorities.

If you have been reading our posts, you will know that we have talked a lot about the importance of culture in an organization.  We have also written quite a bit about the humanizing and de-humanizing potential of work.  In fact, we believe one of the bigger WHYs of faithfully “doing right” through business a better way is Humanizing People.

Much has been written in the media about what people are calling the “Great Resignation“.  We believe this phenomenon might more appropriately be called the “Great De-Humanization“, not only for what caused it but also for what it is causing.  But we also believe the Great De-Humanization is an opportunity for faithful leaders to begin a “Great Re-Humanization” by leading faithfully through business a better way.

The “Great Resignation”

A few posts ago, we mentioned a recent article in MIT Sloan Management Review about the Great Resignation (“Toxic Culture Is Driving the Great Resignation”).  The authors conducted an impressive dive into data to understand the real factors behind 24 million Americans leaving their jobs between April and September 2021.

For example, they analyzed 34 million online employee profiles as well as free text from 1.4 million Glassdoor reviews.  Here are some of their interesting findings and conclusions:

A toxic corporate culture is by far the strongest predictor of industry-adjusted attrition and is 10 times more important than compensation in predicting turnover. . . . A toxic corporate culture is the single best predictor of which companies suffered from high attrition in the first six months of the Great Resignation.

Much of the media discussion about the Great Resignation has focused on employee dissatisfaction with wages. How frequently and positively employees mentioned compensation, however, ranks 16th among all topics in terms of predicting employee turnover. 

The authors also analyzed some of the “toxic” elements of organizational cultures that seemed to be most significant (our titles).

Management Behavior: “The leading elements contributing to toxic cultures include failure to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion; workers feeling disrespected; and unethical behavior.”

Job Security: “Employment instability and restructurings influence employee turnover. Managers frequently resort to layoffs and reorganizations when their company’s prospects are bleak. . . . it’s likely that poor career prospects and job insecurity contributed significantly to employees leaving on their own accord . . .”

Life Balance: “It is surprising that employees are more likely to exit from innovative companies. . . . Staying at the bleeding edge of innovation typically requires employees to put in longer hours, work at a faster pace, and endure more stress than they would in a slower-moving company.” 

Recognition. “Companies that fail to recognize and reward strong performers have higher rates of attrition, and the same is true for employers that tolerate underperformance.”

Refresher: Culture and Business a Better Way

We have talked a lot about culture in prior blogs.  Culture in an organization is “how we do things around here”–how people behave, how people treat other people, how people are motivated, what people perceive to be valued, what behavior is tolerated, encouraged or discouraged, which policies and rules are followed and which are ignored.   It is an ever-changing reality that must be cultivated and curated.

As we have said many times in prior posts, purpose and values define the culture of an organization; the culture shapes the behavior of the people in the organization; and the behavior of the people drives the results of the organization.  Unlike lofty purpose statements and value lists, culture is where the rubber meets the road and the boots hit the ground.  It drives whether people are engaged or disengaged, flourishing or dying, competing or collaborating.

We devoted several posts to the importance of examining all aspects of culture in the RE-IMAGINE step of the Integriosity^® process:

Culture (#078)

Culture, Purpose and Values (#079)

Culture of Shalom (#080)

Culture and Products (#081)

Culture and Capital (#082)

Culture and Governance (#083)

Culture and People (#084)

Faithfully “doing right” through business a better way requires an alignment of purpose, values and culture arising from a commitment to Biblical beliefs, values and priorities that leads a person or organization, instinctively, to do the right things, in the right ways and for the right reasons.  We believe such an alignment must result in a Biblical organizational culture that prioritizes relationships, community, human dignity and flourishing of all people.  It is a culture that embodies the concept of Shalom.

The “Great De-Humanization”

We believe the mass exodus of workers being called the “Great Resignation” can more appropriately be called the “Great De-Humanization“.

De-Humanizing Cause. Based on the conclusions outlined in the MIT Sloan article, people left organizations with cultures that were de-humanizing.  They were business as usual cultures that failed to treat people with dignity and respect–cultures in which the WHY was probably Profit as Purpose, which means people are, by definition, tools of production.

Consider some of the reasons cited:

• Workers feeling disrespected

• Unethical behavior

• History of layoffs and reorganizations.

• People overworked and over-stressed with no ability to balance life.

• Workers feeling like their efforts were not recognized.

It fits perfectly with our description of the characteristics of business as usual way back in posts #012-#016:  Profit As Purpose, Scarcity, Self-Interest and “Can We” Ethics.  In our early posts, we explained ways in which business as usual and work as usual actually undermine key aspects of our intended humanness–working against God’s design for work and for us.

Identity:  Business as usual and work as usual contribute to our work coming to define “who” we are, rather than being a place to express “who” we are (post #020-Work As Usual–An Idol and Identity).

Purpose:  Business as usual is driven by Profit as Purpose (post #013-Business as Usual–Profit as Purpose), which leads to work as usual being driven by money and power (post #021-Work as Usual–Money and Power).

Dignity:  Business as usual‘s focus on Profit as Purpose necessarily devalues human dignity because it reduces people to tools of production (post #017-“Profit” Problems), contributing to work as usual becoming a burden rather than a blessing (post #022-Work as Usual–Burden).

Connection:  The Scarcity and Self-Interest assumptions that underlie business as usual do not prioritize community (post #018-“Scarcity”, “Self-Interest” and the Real Problems) and undermine relationships and connection at work (post #23-Work as Usual–Unhealthy Relationships)

De-Humanizing Effect.  But that is only half the story.  People “not working” exacerbates the de-humanizing impact.  God made us to work, and we are less fully human when not reflecting our God-given creativity and productivity through work. So people who resigned left one de-humanizing situation (a toxic work culture) for another de-humanizing situation (no work).

Because we were created by God to reflect God’s image through work (post #048-Work Is Good), working in the way God intended actually moves us in the direction of becoming more fully human.  Consider these observations by Dr. Skip Moen and Jeff Van Duzer:

 You see, when I align my deepest need to create with the gentle restraint of God, He and I produce something fabulous, something that glorifies Him and blesses others.  In the process, I experience who I really am and I am flooded with joy (who He really is).  (Dr. Skip Moen)

When humans engage in creative, meaningful work that grows out of relationships and gives back to the community they become more deeply human. (Jeff Van Duzer)

The “Re-Humanizing Opportunity”

The MIT Sloan article rightly observes “Much of the media discussion about the Great Resignation has focused on employee dissatisfaction with wages.”  Unfortunately, that emphasis feeds right into the business as usual focus on money and power (post #021-Work as Usual–Money and Power).  The Self-Interest assumption underlying business as usual suggests that money can solve morale problems, and many organizations will try to “fix” the worker shortage with higher pay or better benefits, without changing the culture–the heart of the organization.  It might work–for awhile.

But the MIT Sloan article reveals that the root of the problem is culture, which flows from values and purpose.  We have often cited Michael Stallard’s recipe for a “Connection Culture”: Vision, Value and Voice.   It is a healthy culture in which workers are engaged and flourishing–more fully human.

The Great De-Humanization is an opportunity for faithful leaders to begin a Great Re-Humanization by leading faithfully through business a better way.

The Great Re-Humanization calls for leaders with a RENEWED understanding of God’s purpose for work and business–leaders who recognize that (1) God created work as a good thing and created people to work, (2) business is a vehicle through which people can reflect Imago Dei, to live out the Creation Mandate, and fulfill the commandments to love God and love neighbor, (3) people are more “fully human” when engaged in meaningful work that unleashes their God-given productivity and creativity in a culture of Shalom built on Biblical principles of relationships, community and human dignity, (4) the ultimate WHY of business is derived from the ultimate WHY for humans–glorifying God and (5) God is glorified when God’s people are Humanized through work (which requires making people part of the WHY rather than just the HOW–the end rather than just a means to an end of Profit As Purpose).

PERSONAL NOTE (from PM):  As highlighted in post #104 (Business a Better Way “Without Faith”), a business can have a “re-humanizing” WHY even without a RENEWED understanding of God’s purpose for work and business.  That post was a case study of SAS Institute.

In fact, SAS Institute jumped to mind in reading the MIT Sloan article.  In particular, it was a statement by Dr. Jim Goodnight, the founder of SAS Institute.  What triggered my recollection of Goodnight’s statement was the observation in the MIT Sloan article that a company’s history of layoffs and reorganizations naturally creates a feeling of job insecurity.  This was the quote from Goodnight:

The fact is that if our profits don’t grow and continue to grow every year so what? We have our comfort level of what our profits should be and we try to maintain about a 15% profit level. That is sufficient growth for us so we don’t have to be draconian and say “Oh my gosh, better go and lay off a 1000 people”. . . .  It makes me really mad when a CEO lays off thousands of workers, and is rewarded with the stock increasing.

People remember.  While past success is no guarantee of future success, past behavior may be a good predictor of future behavior.  I remember financial downturns when a few Wall Street law firms laid-off associates (my firm never did).  It was usually firms who grew as fast as they could when things were booming.  Law students remembered–for years.

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Photo Credit: Original photo by Tara Winstead: https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-reaching-out-to-a-robot-8386434/ (photo cropped)