This week Prince Harry had an interview the result of which being Harry has (a) been accused of speaking about an issue he knows nothing about and / or (b) has once again been misquoted on what he actually did say.
Harry’s comments came about as a result of a short written questions and answers interview with the American business magazine Fast Company.
The interview was mainly about Harry’s work as Chief Impact Officer for the coaching company BetterUp, with Harry promoting BetterUp’s recently announced commitment to be part of the corporate philanthropy program Pledge 1%, a program that encourages businesses to divert 1% of their profits to support non-profits organizations.
One of the questions posed to Harry in this interview about his work for BetterUp was the following:
“Covid has accelerated a lot of trends in the workplace – like increased burnout and job resignations – how have you adapted your strategy to address these?”
The specific comment by Harry as part of his response, that has been widely reported or misreported on in the press and on-line, was when Harry said that many people around the world have been stuck in jobs that didn’t bring them joy, and now they’re putting their mental health and happiness first. That is something to be celebrated.
This big trend of mass resignations, at a time when there are lots of available jobs, has been happening in a fair few countries around the world, even here in Canada.
The trend has been named the Great Resignation, or the Big Quit. The term Great Resignation is being credited to Anthony Klotz, a professor of management at Mays Business School at the Texas A&M University.
Per and article in Bloomberg Magazine, as 2021 approached, bringing with it the promise of effective vaccines and a return to semi-normal life, Klotz predicted that two things would happen.
First, many of the people who wanted to quit in 2020 but held off due to fear or uncertainty would finally feel secure enough to do so. And second, pandemic-era exhaustion and burnout would drive a whole new cohort of people to quit their jobs.
Bloomberg reports that in the US more than twenty-four million quit their jobs between April to September 2021, across all industries. Bloomberg say that many people are deciding to stay out of the workplace for good. Bloomberg say there are similar trends in Germany and Japan.
When Prince Harry spoke of mental health and being one likely cause, his comments are supported by the data.
Professor Klotz, says the great resignation trend may have a silver lining, in forcing companies not only to raise wages and increase benefits, but also to offer more flexibility to attract and retain an in-person workforce.
As you can see Harry was commenting on an existing trend in the workplace and one of the researched reasons behind it – quitting for improved mental heath – and maybe drawing on his own reasons when he stepped back as a working royal. He was not telling everyone to go out and quit their jobs.
What Prince Harry did not say and maybe he would have done so had this topic been the main reason for the interview, is that quitting is not always an option people can afford to take regardless of the impact on their health and well being.
Please keep listening for future podcasts on all things Meghan, Harry, Archie and Lili. Reach out to me through my blog at https://www.kindthoughtsformeghanmarkle.com/ and on twitter https://twitter.com/JeanetteSongolo
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