These insights have been revealed in new SME research released today, which explores the impact of the Great Resignation on New Zealand’s SMEs. The study, Transformational Talent: The impact of the Great Resignation on in APJ’s SMEs commissioned Dynata to survey 1,363 small and medium business owners and decision-makers across eight countries in the region, including 101 in New Zealand.��

The impact of the Great Resignation on SME digital transformation in New Zealand��

As the world economy recovers from the pandemic, businesses now face another challenge – the ‘Great Resignation’. Coined in 2021, the phrase refers to a worldwide trend of millions of employees across the world leaving their jobs.��

�鶹ԭ��’s research found the Great Resignation is real and impacting SMEs in New Zealand today. Three quarters (79%) of respondents agreed that more employees are resigning now compared to just 12 months ago, easily the highest in Asia Pacific and Japan. 36 percent of SMEs said they are not finding it easy to cope with the impact of the Great Resignation. ��

The talent crunch is impacting organisation’s ability to digitally transform their businesses. In fact, lack of skilled talent ranks alongside difficulty balancing priorities as the top challenges to achieving successful transformation for New Zealand SMEs, ahead of traditional obstacles like cyber security or lack of budgets.��

“This study reveals how the Great Resignation can be seen as an existential threat to many organisations,” said Adrian Griffin, Managing Director �鶹ԭ�� New Zealand. “Digital transformation is a fundamental way SMEs not only build resilience, but how they create agile, innovative paths to growth. But without the right people, any transformation will struggle. In order to survive and thrive, New Zealand businesses have to invest in people, invest in culture and invest in innovation.”��

Investing in talent and training to mitigate the Great Resignation��

SMEs in New Zealand are investing in their workforce to mitigate the effects of the Great Resignation and to bolster their organisations’ ability to deliver digital transformation.����

Survey respondents said they were focusing on introducing flexible working arrangements (33%) to boost talent retention over the next 12 months. Yet, beyond that focus, SMEs are also focusing on training. Almost a third (29%) of SMEs said they would provide upskilling opportunities to retain key talent in the next 12 months.��

The focus on training can’t come too soon. Over eight in ten (81%) SMEs say upskilling to support digital transformation is urgent, leading to 88 percent of New Zealand SMEs who say they will focus on digital training throughout this year.����

“The Great Resignation has often been misconstrued as employees leaving to pursue their purpose. That’s not the whole story,” said Griffin. “Employers need to look at the wider workplace. People want to work at organisations with a diverse and inclusive culture, a welcoming and flexible workplace, and a clearly communicated progression journey. Prioritising upskilling and career progression and supporting it with access to the right technology and partners is proven to be a win-win for employees and for SMEs here in New Zealand.”��

Optimism abounds as SMEs move from resilience to focus on growth��

Having managed significant challenges over the past two years, SMEs in New Zealand are looking beyond a focus on resilience.����

Two-thirds (69%) of New Zealand SMEs say their organisation is highly or fully resilient in weathering the pandemic’s impact. Just three percent of respondents said they are not resilient at all.����

That confidence in their ability has resulted in a feeling of optimism about their growth prospects. 91 percent of SMEs in New Zealand said they are moderately, very, or extremely confident in their growth over the next 12 months.����

That mindset can only be a positive thing for the region, according to Griffin.��

“Our small and medium sized businesses are a bellwether for the wider economy. I firmly believe that when SMEs thrive, economies grow, and New Zealand prospers”, said Griffin. “By harnessing this optimism and putting it together with great innovation, a commitment to talent, and a strong partner ecosystem we can chart a course to the next decade of SME success in New Zealand.”����

The full report of Transformational Talent study is available for download upon request.��

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I think the much more interesting, and perhaps impactful change is the organisational shift towards ‘dynamic teams.’

The introduction of employment marketplaces, essentially internal job boards where employees sign up to be a part of temporary opportunities or ‘gigs’, is the next great evolution of the workplace. The standard “top-down”, work in hierarchical teams approach is being sidelined by a much more efficient, and flexible model. This seismic shift in global work culture should not be overlooked.

Perhaps the and its elements have also been around for a long time too. However, technology in the HRIS space has only recently started to support the idea of providing employees access to work experience outside their standard job hierarchy. It is perhaps not surprising that only technology could facilitate such an arrangement.

Cataloguing thousands of opportunities varying in type, then matching them to the thousands of skills associated to hundreds of potential employees requires technology to realistically manage. Once employees are matched to an opportunity, the organisation now has a dynamic team. But how to manage this new, dynamic beast?

There is a valid concern that these opportunities offered to non-hierarchical teams distract employees from formal KPI’s, or the goals established by a direct supervisor. However, has been around for a long time. Companies and leaders can do two things at once and track the success and relative value of both activities using software.

Another . However, if the COVID restrictions, including restrictions on travel and ‘in person’ meetings, have taught us anything, it is that software can overcome these limitations also. Microsoft Teams, Zoom or whatever flavour of collaboration software is the prevailing favourite has proven very effective in connecting teams across the globe and allowing for remote work to keep productivity going, even soaring.

Achieving business outcomes vs. championing job roles
Organisations benefit from this evolution in several ways. For one thing dynamic teams by their very nature emphasize achieving business outcomes rather championing job roles. Rather than having leaders assigning work based on group hierarches, employees can be part of cross-functional teams based on what needs to get done and who is able to do it. The outcome is served by assigning people with the right skills and motivation to the task, rather than to a team who might be ‘traditionally’ responsible for a similar task.

Workers can participate in activities based on the skills and aspirations they have. This leads to and in increased desire to stay with the organisation providing these opportunities. Because skills and experience are targeted at the opportunity specifically, rather than merely pulling people from a pool designated as the ‘official’ source, the outcome of the project or gig will likely be of higher quality and more successful. Employees participating in dynamic teams not only get the opportunity to flex skills not found in their formal jobs, but they also gain exposure to other leaders, teams and projects that could also be career enhancing.

Many organisations have the tools necessary to facilitate the next great industrial revolution and dynamic teams will be a core part of the change. COVID and its related impact on how we work, on the economy and on our psychology has ushered in a change that has long been needed in the modern workplace – flexibility. Employees and employers can and will benefit from this change facilitated in part with modern technology and fortunately for me, good use of sophisticated software.

This article was originally featured on .

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