In early 2022, I left the traditional 9-to-5 bog alongside hundreds of thousands of others, which puts me into the cohort of "The Great Resignation."
From my experience and the many others I have had this conversation with, we all had one thing in common: In the state of suffering, the COVID-19 pandemic fast-tracked a spiritual awakening. The awakening brought on a lot of mental darkness, confusion, and the onset of fundamental life questions.
The statistics on mental health are astronomically high and increasing daily. Access to mental health resources is limited, and the problems snowball after that. There is a way out, but it must include a willingness to go deeper into blurring the line between personal and professional affairs. Organizations must be willing to look at spirituality as part of the solution while accepting that it is a part of the problem.
In Canada, one's religion is a protected Human Right, and so is not having one; I suspect that this is why many organizations avoid asking about one's spiritual support systems; however, spirituality is not a matter of religious affairs; it is simply the relationship one has with their soul.
Avoiding the topic has created a problem for organizations pretending that corporations are not spiritual entities when they are; I argue that if a corporation is legally a person in the eyes of the law, it certainly has a soul. Some organizations understand this and spend a lot of time defining their corporate culture, values and ethics; others miss the mark entirely. I suspect those organizations are scrambling to fill vacancies.
There is something much deeper going on, and we are only beginning to scratch the surface to understand the spiritual aspect of this tremendous collective movement.
Humans are multidimensional beings, and in these times of significant change, it is not enough to say that a decline in mental health contributes to this movement; spiritual brokenness also concerns the soul. Let me be clear: mental health and spirituality are not mutually exclusive.
A lot of emphasis is given to the burnout caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and while that is true, burnout is also misplaced in the mental health category. While I agree that unfair work policies, health worries, motherhood, deep dissatisfaction and disconnection with one's work are aspects of it, the motivator for leaving a job is the lack of joy, purpose, and fulfillment that comes from knowing the answer to our profound fundamental life questions. The onset of recognizing that our life has no meaning and we want to change radically is a deep spiritual awareness that does not simply go away with vacation time.
Consider this: people don't alter their entire life trajectory simply because they mastered the WFH grind. They leave because something more profound is calling them; this calling extends beyond the freedom of choosing our work location; it has to do with the space to express our authentic individuality. These days, companies are struggling to retain a dedicated staff committed to the company's growth simply because, quite frankly, that is a lot to ask.
We live in times favourable to the online business owner, and anyone can succeed online with a lot of patience and dedication. Employers should understand that people want to know how their individualization will be celebrated, not just through shallow diversity policies but throughout their intellectual development and well-being- and if you think you have that covered, challenge yourself to do better, be a leader and demonstrate how your company is thriving in this area.
Just think about how many people acknowledge that they commit the best years of their lives to work for an organization, and the company could still replace them the next day; we all know someone to whom this has happened, and no one likes to feel disposable, we all have value.
I hear many business people talk about strategy and taking aligned action. I see them use buzzwords to express their vision, and I see them studying the pain points of others, hoping that market research will be enough to "attract" the right people. They don't realize they are already in an energy deficit when moving in this direction. It's re-packaged patriarchial thinking.
Energetic Insights Co can help you better understand the underbelly of employee dissatisfaction and support you in implementing policies emphasized in corporate and business spirituality. Ask about our mentorship options for your leaders and how you can learn to embody this new way of planning for success inside your organization.
Cheers!