3 Ways to Empower Your Members to Leverage "The Great Resignation"

Wherever you turn lately, you’re hearing about the “Great Resignation” and how it’s affecting employees and employers. According to an October 2021 Harvard Gazette article, the movement of current employees to new jobs is at a record high, with more people moving between jobs than ever before. As an association, you’re positioned to influence your members’ next career moves by sharing valuable information with them to assist in their career planning. 

Even if your members aren’t currently thinking about switching jobs, reminding them of your available resources may inspire them to have conversations with their bosses about their workloads, performance, and expectations that they may not have felt as equipped to begin before your reminder.

Here are three ways you can easily create content this month that will help job seekers within your membership take advantage of the unusually high number of job openings available to them.

Create Video and Written Content with Suggestions on Books to Read

Most employees who are looking for a career change value growth and aren’t feeling that they have enough of an opportunity to grow professionally or personally. Because they value growth, they are likely avid consumers of books, blogs, videos, courses, and seminars/webinars. These members are the ones who will jump on Clubhouse or tune into a podcast during a run so they can listen in on personal development talks. They are the ones consuming TED Talks during their lunch breaks so they can grow as a human. Since you know this, cater to them this month.

Share blog posts, short videos, or book reviews of career-related books to help them with their search. The blog post could be a list of “5 Books to Help You with Your Job Search.” To get you started, maybe include popular books such as: 

• What Color Is Your Parachute? A Practical Manual for Job-Hunters and Career-Changers by Richard N. Bolles.

• Bonus points: Share another way to consume this information by adding a link to the website so they can download the great graphics on job interviews. 

• Find Your Why: A Practical Guide for Discovering Purpose for You and Your Team by Simon Sinek.

Then add in one or two powerful, but not as often mentioned, books for professionals looking to increase their skills, find a new job, or improve their career trajectory.

• How the World Sees You: Discovery Your Highest Value Through the Science of Fascination by Sally Hogshead

• Bonus points: Share another way to consume this information by leading them to The Fascinate Test, which will give them immediate results to help them understand how the book will educate them on seeing their differences and what makes them fascinating!

• Do What You Are: Discover the Perfect Career for You Through the Secrets of Personality Type by Paul D. Tieger, Barbara Barron, and Kelly Tieger

When you create your video, you can create graphics with the book covers, or show a collection of books that your employees are reading this month. If you have time to get creative, send out a survey to learn what books your members are already reading, and then take time to highlight them while sharing the video. It doesn’t have to be fancy! Just create something that your visual learners will connect with so they remember you care about their career advancement.

Host Webinars with HR Professionals and/or Recruiters Sharing Tips on Leveraging This Moment

Webinars aren’t going away. Despite many employees still experiencing “Zoom fatigue” and feeling stressed out because they spend all day staring at themselves through screens, the fact is that online meetings and webinars are here to stay. So, why not leverage it by choosing one of the following webinar formats? 

• Bring in three to four experts from your membership who work in the HR space to host a hot-seat panel
• Host a webinar with an innovative HR expert who is a long-time member
• Do a fireside chat with a hiring manager or recruiter

Ask your speakers to share trends they are seeing and empower other members with career tips they can’t get by listening to the average webinar. Make it a member-only benefit and sell seats to non-members at a cost (always an effortless way to earn non-dues revenue). Have the experts share valuable tips that will help your members talk with their current employers about raises, promotions, and burnout, as well as encourage job seekers and career-changers to feel empowered to look for their next role. 

At the end of the webinar, take time to share about your career resources, including your job board, career path software, and any course options you may have. Remind your members that you can support them with their career planning whether they are happy in their position and simply want to leverage “The Great Resignation” by having an open dialogue with their boss about their career path, or whether they are not happy in their current position and want to use the tools you have available to launch a full job search complete with salary research, career mapping, and resume critiques. 

Webinars are a low-to-no-cost way to reach your members. When you’re done, include the replay link in an email campaign sharing information about your career center. If you don’t already have collateral on hand, Web Scribble clients can reach out to your Customer Service Manager to receive current templates that are easy to update and brand for your association.

Send a Campaign to Your Members Promoting Your Job Board and Career Resources

If your association has a job board, send a campaign out this month sharing with them the benefits of using your career resources, such as learning from helpful articles on industry-specific topics that will help them find, attain, and perform well on the job. Remind them to submit their resume for a free critique, upload their resume to the database so employers can find them easily, and search for jobs through your job board. While the job board operates itself once in place, reminding your members of its features often is the best way to keep it top of mind when they are considering searching for new opportunities.

Career planning is a huge benefit that you can offer to your members, especially during “The Great Resignation.” With a career center powered by Web Scribble, members can use the Career Paths tool to help visualize the career of their dreams and gain insight on how to get there. Once in the software, members can review various job titles and salary ranges, look at job descriptions and live jobs, and learn which skills are most valuable for them to have in the new positions. They will learn valuable information to help them update their resumes, which they can then submit for a free critique to ensure they are on the right track.

Are you hosting a virtual career fair? If you know your members are planning their next career move, offer them the opportunity to connect with organizations that are hiring. Help your members get hired! Virtual recruiting is often successful because it allows employers to cast a wider net when it comes to looking for talent and it makes it easy for active and passive job seekers to learn more about companies that are hiring. Members will enjoy the ease of uploading resumes, securing interviews to learn more about the company and the position, all without ever leaving your association’s website.

Now is the best time to empower your members with the knowledge needed to go further in their careers, whether with new companies or their current ones. It’s a great moment to remind them that you have a career center available to them as a benefit of their membership. Ensuring members know how to use your job board and associated resources will position your association as the go-to source for job searching and career planning. A fully integrated career center that supports members at every step of their careers increases overall member engagement, increases the likelihood of membership renewal, and serves as a clear member benefit - one that members will praise and tell others about joining your association!