The COVID-19 pandemic has caused corporate cultures to shift and change in ways that it never had before. Suddenly, millions of workers were sent home to do their jobs from impromptu home offices without knowing when they might return to their normal work schedule. Today, while some offices have gone back to working in the office full time, most companies are allowing workers to work partially, or even fully, remote. While this trend seems to make workers happier, it needs to be done the right way in order to prevent corporate brain drain. 

The consequences of a poor remote work culture can be easily seen in the world today. Creating an exciting remote work culture can prevent workers from feeling bored or unfulfilled. This phenomenon, which occurs when highly educated, trained, and intelligent people leave the workforce, is a direct result of shaky remote work cultures and has led to what many are calling the Great Resignation.

What is The Great Resignation? 

The Great Resignation began in the Spring of 2021 when workers started to voluntarily leave their jobs. The most common explanation for so many resignations is that the pandemic has given workers a chance to evaluate their professional choices in a more meaningful way. What’s more, poor remote cultures and more than a year working from home has left many workers feeling unfulfilled.

From the beginning of 2021, more and more workers have quit their jobs to search for better opportunities, start their own businesses, or pursue something else. In July 2021 alone, 4 million Americans quit their jobs. While resignations were most noticeable in restaurants and hotels, the technology and healthcare industries have seen the highest number of resignations. The largest group of people resigning from their jobs is mid-career professionals between 30-45 years of age. 

Brain Drain and Remote Workers

Brain drain is what happens when highly trained, skilled, and educated workers begin leaving the workforce at an accelerating rate. The COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent rise in remote work has caused massive brain drain from the American economy for two reasons. 

First, the growing ubiquity of remote work has allowed job seekers to look beyond their physical locations for work. People in Florida are getting jobs in Oregon, people in New York are working for companies in California, and other people are working completely remote, traveling through Europe while working their 9 to 5. This breakdown of borders is opening up even more opportunities and forcing employers to make their job offers more enticing.

The second, and perhaps more common, reason that remote work has led to brain drain is due to weak remote work cultures. Companies that weren’t able to keep their employees engaged and motivated while working remotely are losing workers much faster than companies that were able to easily make the change. 

How to Prevent Brain Drain

Just because the pandemic has changed the way we work, it doesn’t mean that brain drain is inevitable. In fact, most workers prefer being able to work remotely in some way. The key is knowing how to do it right. Here are some ways that you can prevent brain drain in your organization:

• Offer more training for employees to continue developing their skills.
• Create an engaging remote culture. 
• Retain corporate knowledge by documenting processes and procedures, cross-training your employees, and using a mentorship system. 
• Incorporate a learning management system into your organization to make learning fun and engaging. 

Build a Successful Remote Culture at Your Company 

Ready to commit to a fully successful and totally engaging remote work culture at your organization? At DHxLearning, we partner with our customers to provide technical, administrative, and instructional design services. We’ll make working at your company more fun, efficient, and engaging. Schedule an appointment with someone from our team today to learn more about how you can get started on creating a great remote culture for your organization.