AS WE BEGIN THE NEW YEAR, we will undoubtedly face many new challenges within our organizations. One of the most significant challenges, and one that's gained increasing attention over the past few years, is that of attracting and retaining employees. The workforce simply is not growing as quickly as it has in the past. Compared to a 3.5 percent “net increase” in 1979, we will be experiencing a “net decrease” in employees by 2012. How will this affect your projects, your organization's success? And what can you do to proactively help your company meet this challenge?
If you want to keep your good people from taking their talents elsewhere, pay attention to what factors influence an employee to stay or go.
First, you need to understand our environment. The employee of the 21st century has certainly changed course from the employee of the mid-20th century. My dad worked for the same company for over 35 years. He never would have thought of changing jobs. He was just thankful that he had one—changing jobs would have been viewed as “unstable.” This is not true in today's world.
The HR specialist of my company recently attended the Society for Human Resources 2000 Conference in Washington, DC. At this conference she attended a paper presentation titled “Commitment in the Workplace—The 2000 Global Employee Relationship Report Benchmark” by Marc Drizin, vice president, Business Alliances Walker Information. According to the study conducted by Wallker Information Global Network and the Hudson Institute, the average employee has 12 to 15 jobs over the course of his or her career. The average employee stays in a job for 3.6 years. Employees in virtually all industries have shown a decrease in tenure over the last 15 years, except government employees, who currently remain in their jobs for an average of 7.3 years.
The same study concluded that only one-third of all employees is truly loyal to their organizations, and only half of those “loyal” employees feel a strong personal attachment to their organization. A disturbing underlying question here is “What is happening within our society where two-thirds of all employees feel no loyalty to those who employ them? Have we become that cold-hearted that employees are only important if they can positively affect the profit and loss statement? I do believe that businesses have to make “business decisions,” but have we swung the pendulum too far? Will it hurt businesses in the long run? Have we been too short-sighted?
Another conclusion of this study is that only half of all employees feel their organization cares about developing them for the long term. An underlying message here is that you have to train your people ... or they will leave. I know my experience validates this. Potential employees are generally focused on what kind of commitment the organization is willing to provide in terms of professional development. Once they become employees, they will pursue what was promised ... and organizations are obligated to honor their commitments ... or pay the consequences of a high-turnover ratio.
Although organizations have no control over the number of resources that are available in society at large, they can be proactive in dealing with their resource issues by increasing the job satisfaction levels of those employees already working for them. They need to be cognizant of why their employees stay ... and what drives them to leave. According to the Drizin's study, five influences on employee loyalty are:
Fairness at work (including pay)
Care and concern for employees
Satisfaction on a day-to-day basis
Trust in employees
Reputation of the organization.
So, what does this mean to you? If you have any influence on recruiting or retaining employees or team members, it should mean a lot. Especially since Drizin reports a Mercer study put the cost upward of $30,000 to replace a lost worker. It costs less to retain an employee than it does to replace one.
AS A MANAGER, you need to be aware and proactive in positively influencing your employees—especially in the five areas noted above. Employers as a whole need to measure and manage what drives the loyalty of their employees. The expense of replacing workers should be viewed as an investment, not a cost. The labor pool is diminishing—be proactive in meeting this challenge! ■