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Why the Great Resignation Should Be a Great Opportunity with Bobby Bakshi (Ep. #38)

The BetterManager Team
Building Better Managers Podcast Episode 38 - Bobby Bakshi

Building Better Managers Podcast Episode #38: Why the Great Resignation Should Be a Great Opportunity with Bobby Bakshi

People are leaving their jobs in record numbers - and employers are struggling to understand why.

Bobby Bakshi, author of "The 101% You: Seven Steps to Creating the Life of Your Choice," joins us to discuss why employees are leaving, and how the most successful companies are creating win-win business cultures where they're keeping their top talent by helping them in their growth and development.

We'll be reviewing critical concepts like Purpose, Autonomy, Mastery, Intrinsic Motivation and Transformational Learning that you can build-in to your unique situation.

In this episode:

Meet Bobby:

  • Bobby Bakshi is the Founder of MyPurposeDIY, focused on helping people claim their unique gifts, through transformational learning experiences.
  • Bobby’s consulting practice specializes in People & Culture Strategy, Learning and Coaching, and People Programs, with an emphasis on DEI work.
  • He’s spent a decade at Microsoft, and unicorn startups as a People & Culture leader, building and delivering on Leadership Development and Employee Experience efforts.  Bobby serves leaders across the globe.
  • He is the author of “The 101% You: Seven Steps to Creating the Life of Your Choice” and is working on his next book “Being 101% You: Reclaiming Your Power at Work.”

The Great Resignation

  • "Resignations peaked in April and have remained abnormally high for the last several months, with a record-breaking 10.9 million open jobs at the end of July." (1)
  • More and more people are getting recruited by companies, so companies are losing managers and managers are losing their teams. People are really in transit right now.
  • McKinsey recently just put out very important piece of research that says that employers don't fully understand why employees are leaving. And so there's a real disconnect, as so much attention is being paid to the immediate challenges of the pandemic.

How We Can Reclaim Our Power at Work

  • Victim mentality is very prevalent in many work environments, so reclaiming our power is extremely important and timely.
  • Imagine if every employee truly took ownership on their own and empowered themselves. But there's a disconnect you definitely will get pushback, especially in cultures that are slow to change and innovate. But it takes each individual to speak up, rather than just doing business as usual. What we're seeing with these patterns right now, is that "business as usual" is not working.
  • Great companies like Southwest Airlines with Herb Keller, who always said to treat your employees well, and they will take care of the customer. That's the opportunity right now, for us to really expand that. Southwest should not be the exception, I hope that it becomes the norm, that more companies get that when they truly take care of their people beyond benefits. Yes, benefits and pay are important, but don't make it a distraction or a be-all, end-all. Treat people well with the extrinsic factors, and then really focus on the intrinsic.

Ways to Encourage Intrinsic Motivation

  • The heart of purpose is doing something greater than oneself. So that's intention, that's step one - if you can find that for yourself, and if you don't have it, I really encourage you to do the work to figure it out.
  • Two is, it's a choice. Make sure that you are choosing where you are and why you're there. Maybe you do need to be there for the money, so be clear about it. Be conscious and aware that you are saying yes to something, and be aware of the impact it has on you and your soul when when you make those trade-offs.
  • Three is really the commitment to say, "Now that I've said yes, I'm going to do what it takes to do my best here." You're going to work to understand how to contribute, and to do the best you can while you're there.
  • Fourth is to acknowledge the element of power - that we bring the power - with integrity to our values - to do what we need to do.
  • If we all believed in thriving, that everyone deserves to thrive, that it's something beyond myself, the conclusion of that is the joy, fulfillment and real satisfaction with work.

Final Takeaway

  • Take any opportunity in front of you and look at how you can navigate through that in the best way possible.
  • I can be very overwhelming with all the changes we've been facing, to "boil the ocean". A great mentor of mine at Microsoft really taught me that principle: "You can't boil the ocean." Really take on what's in front of you and do your very best for that.

Downloads & Resources

Follow Bobby on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and at BobbyBakshi.com.

Subscribe to our podcast on your favorite podcast platform!

Check out our blog articles on Leadership here.

(1) Who Is Driving the Great Resignation? HBR.org, Sept. 15, 2021.

About Bobby Bakshi

Bobby Bakshi is the Founder of MyPurposeDIY, focused on helping people claim their unique gifts, through transformational learning experiences. Bobby’s consulting practice specializes in People & Culture Strategy, Learning and Coaching, and People Programs, with an emphasis on DEI work.

He’s spent a decade at Microsoft, and unicorn startups as a People & Culture leader, building and delivering on Leadership Development and Employee Experience efforts.  Bobby serves leaders across the globe and is the author of “The 101% You: Seven Steps to Creating the Life of Your Choice” and is working on his next book “Being 101% You: Reclaiming Your Power at Work.”

Episode Transcript
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