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It came as a bit of a blow to many of us who thought “The Great COVID Job Churn” peaked in 2020: “The Great Resignation.”  The latter term, coined by American management professor Anthony Klotz in May 2021, refers to the notion that a wave of employees will be quitting their jobs, or have already, in a pandemic-related resignation boom. The magnitude of this trend really sank in during a virtual chat I had with my colleague, Mary Kalkanis, our VP of People and Values. Looking at the latest headlines and reports, we realized that if we thought churn had hit its highest level last year, we hadn’t even seen the half of it.   

As business leaders make plans for the return to the office, they’re adjusting to some of the permanent shifts the pandemic has left us: it’s out with closed cubicles and small personal desks and in open collaborative spaces and touchless coffee machines. However, it’s not just physical spaces that need a rethink, but the big intangible: organizational culture. Across sectors, CEOs and executives are grappling with tough questions: 

There is no easy way to predict what’s next in this pseudo post-pandemic world but, when it comes to events, the future is already here…and there.

Customer experience (CX) has become a critical focus area for businesses seeking to connect with their customers in meaningful ways and differentiate themselves from their competitors. So popular is the topic of CX, it has its own global day (“CX Day”) to celebrate brands that create great customer experiences.

In a moment of huge frustration, it’s often down to individual staff members to deliver an experience that takes that frustration away and allows one to breathe a sigh of relief and appreciation. On a recent visit to the U.K., I got to experience this first hand.