The global COVID-19 pandemic has spurred a tidal wave of people quitting their jobs in what’s being called ‘the Great Resignation.’

What can employers do to combat this wave of resignations? Take a three-step, more data-driven approach to retention, said Ian Cook, vice president of people analytics with Vancouver-based analytics software firm Visier.

First, employers should quantify both the problem and its impact on key business metrics, Cook wrote in Who Is Driving the Great Resignation? a blog published last week on Harvard Business Review.

Next, they should identify the root causes that are driving workers to resign. Finally, organizations should implement targeted retention campaigns designed to address the specific issues that they struggle with the most.

Cook and his team conducted an in-depth analysis of more than 9 million employee records at 4,000 global companies. The dataset included employees from a wide variety of industries (including financial services and insurance), functions and levels of experience.