I am bombarded with studies and press releases that are warning employers that when the economy improves, employees will pursue their long pent-up desire to change jobs. These emphasize the need to take immediate action to retain key employees.
They especially warn employers who have had a rough time during the past couple of years. Employers who subjected their employees to overwork by not replacing staff, limited wage increases, ignored employee complaints, and paid little attention to employee engagement efforts, are predicted to be the most vulnerable to employee loss.
Loss of a key employee is expensive for employers. You have invested, in some cases, years of training time in the actual job skills and requirements. You have invested, too, in enabling the employee to develop institutional knowledge about your customers and how work is accomplished in your organization, an even more difficult knowledge base to replace.
When you lose a key employee, you also lose the set of relationships the employee has developed with coworkers to cooperatively reach your goals. And, friendships alone, are not replaceable without time investment.
So, the loss of an employee is more expensive than it may appear to be on the surface. You don't want to retain unhappy employees (although you might consider looking into prevalent unhappiness). But, you want to retain your key, contributing employees. Use these resources below to find out how.
Do you agree or disagree? Do you expect a rush of employees to your door? What are your own plans? Please cast your vote in my poll. We'll see if your reality matches the projections that I'm seeing.
More About Employee Retention
- More Tips to Reduce Employee Turnover
- Top 10 Ways to retain Your Great Employees
- The Bottom Line for Employee Retention
- How's Your Work Motivation? What Motivates You?
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I work for a family business, but I see no raises or advancement possible in my future. I don’t get any feedback unless something goes wrong. I really hate my job. I haven’t had a raise in 6 years, and had a pay cut in the past year. I have been with the company for 27 years. I see no other alternative at this time though. Economy is still in the toilet where I live.
I have worked for the State Of Texas for almost 9 years. The State has been good to me, but where I work in mental health for teenagers does not! So much racism and favoritism it is difficult to fathom. I have exposed a few embarrassing things at work, so I have been labeled a “whistle blower.” I try my best to keep the kids under our care safe and healthy, and what do I get in return? Retaliation from management comes to mind. If I had somewhere else to go that provided decent benefits I would be gone in a short time! Needless to say, the turnover rate is fairly high.