As we look ahead to the next several years, the evidence seems clear. Organizations that don't implement the necessary practices will face losing key employees, as voluntary turnover is likely to grow and once again become a strategic business issue as it was in the late 1990's
An Improving Economy Brings Unwanted Employee Turnover
Indicators show that our economy is getting back on track following the horrors of September 11, 2001. The U.S. economy added 2.2 million jobs in 2004, the highest rate of job growth since 1999. Economists expect the economy to add a similar number of jobs in 2005, a rate that should keep gross domestic product growth steady at about 3.5%. The growing economy is good news.
The bad news is that as the economy grows, employment will continue to rise, and with it voluntary employee turnover is projected to rise significantly.
A recent survey conducted by Vital Learning's close associate Dr Lynn Ware, Employee Retention expert, shows that in answer to the question... "What are the chances of you voluntarily leaving your job within the next twelve months?"... more than half of the survey respondents (52%) said "moderately high to almost certain!"
Another survey conducted by SHRM, Society for Human Resource Management, showed that "83% of employees said that it was "extremely likely" or "somewhat likely" that they would actively seek new employment once the job market and economy improves".
Then there are the more macro trends. Overall we are becoming a more mobile society and economy. For instance the US Department of Labor data demonstrates that, on average, employee tenure declined 82% from the 1950's to 2000. And the US national average employee tenure today is running 3.5 years. Based on that we think it’s important to ask... Do you know what your organizations trend is over the last 10 years, and what it is today?
What Can You Do?
The evidence is unmistakable, most employees leave their job either because the job is not a solid fit and they do not achieve personal success, or they have what they feel is an unproductive relationship with their direct supervisor. On the one hand both of these unfortunate situations lead directly to unwanted turnover. On the other hand, both can be successfully addressed.
The Solid Fit Hire
How many times have you seen new hires come in and you can tell right away (and so can they) that their new job is not a good fit and its not likely it will work out? The question is, why were these people hired in the first place? Many times it’s because of missing elements like these in the hiring process.
No Clear Documented Definition of What's Needed - Often there is no clear, documented, definition of what it takes to perform successfully in that job and in that company. Without that definition of what the right candidate is required to have to be successful, how can the Managers
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Look Out - Increased Employee Turnover is Right Around the Corner