I believe it’s healthy to acknowledge that we are all living through challenging times as we face many obstacles amid uncertainty and change. Personally and professionally, we’re being tested to meet expectations while trying to maintain some boundaries. For office workers and employees, they’re rethinking altogether whether it is worth it for them to work at all. According to the Bureau of Labor, record numbers of Americans quit their jobs in August; 4.3 million people.

If you are a business leader, you know that employee retention is critical. Losing your staff slows down productivity and can stifle growth. The cost of rehiring is extremely high. In the US alone, turnover loss costs businesses nearly $2 trillion each year. For leaders, this is just one of the many issues they are facing. That said, this is a symptom that stems from larger organizational problems. The good news is that there are things you can do to fix this and improve it.

At our Executive Forum last week, we met with business owners and leaders to discuss the changing workplace landscape. Everyone shared trends within their industry and their own perspectives on navigating change. We talked about how goals, targets, and expectations need to be shifted moving forward. We also discussed how to equip leaders to lead through these times. There wasn’t full agreement with every approach, but everyone shared, debated concepts, and walked away with new ideas.

Across the board, there seemed to be a positive mindset overall on how everyone is managing all of this change. It begins with the idea that change is always constant. Before the pandemic, things were changing and probably weren’t as secure as they seemed. Everything is impermanent and nothing lasts forever. Before you can truly move forward, you must embrace this and get comfortable with change.

This is easier said than done, but there are things you can do. At MindTeam Solutions, one of the things we do well is help leaders and organizations strategize, plan, and execute change. We do this through consulting and group facilitation using our strategic planning process. We share a few models of change and give practical communication advice for handling conflict. We also provide resources in the form of on-demand courses, whitepapers, and workbooks.

One thing we also agreed on as leaders was our perspective on mental health and self-care. With the lines blurred between work and office these days, we need to take into account employment conditions and how to support the daily lives of our people. Many organizational cultures are such that they try to separate the worker from their emotions and feelings. Employees in these situations have to hide their true selves for fear of repercussions.

However, the truth is that we bring our whole selves to work. That’s how it is and that’s how it should be. Organizations need to set the tone from the top and leaders need to model the behavior themselves. That may include setting clear guidelines on when and how people send communications. In other words, a response isn’t expected over the weekend or when you’re on your time off. A leader should encourage his or her people to take time off and take time off themselves.

Just last week on October 10th, commemorated World Mental Health Day. Also, our friend and business colleague Melissa Doman published her book, Yes, You Can Talk About Mental Health at Work: Here’s Why… and How to Do it Really Well. I’ve only started reading it, but if you are running a business and managing people, you’ll want to give this a read. As a leader, you can’t stuff these difficult topics under the carpet anymore. You must get comfortable with change, and part of that is addressing your personal mental state and the well-being of your people.