The big quit: Why it’s hitting agencies hard and how they can improve retention

As of June, 11.5 million Americans quit their jobs earlier this year. And, buckle up employers: a recent Microsoft survey suggests that employees will continue to stream out the door in record numbers.

Agencies are feeling the pain. According to a recent survey, 63% of industry talent plans to change jobs this year.

All of this “big quit” data got me thinking: Why haven’t we seen this exodus at our agency, BLASTmedia? As of August 2021, our annual employee retention rate was at 94%, all while doubling our revenue in the past year and navigating everything the COVID-19 pandemic had to throw at us.

A few months ago, I set out to pinpoint what’s in our secret sauce. I examined our corporate culture, reevaluated our training procedures and, perhaps most enlightening, sat down with new hires coming from global agencies, including one boomerang employee who recently rejoined our team.

Here’s what I found: Employees are finally putting themselves first. And, if you want to stay competitive and plug your corporate brain drain, so should you.