|
| You’ve hired the best; can you keep them when business booms again? |
|
Greg Basham |
|
 |
How quickly things can change when it comes to the economy and the business climate. It was March 2008 when the headline in SCMP read "Job vacancies and turnover rates hit five-year high". By December headlines shifted to "Hong Kong job cuts so far are just a start" (Financial Times FT.com). The first headline was a warning to employers that improving recruiting methods and managing staff better to avoid unnecessary turnover was a must or employers would lose the talent war to organizations who take seriously what it means to be an employer of choice. While the times are vastly different now the risk of harming and, in time, losing top performers remains the same. |
|
|
While there might be some solace in all this bad news that it is an employers market right now when it comes to picking top people, it is not a time for complacency. This economy will rebound as it always does and the future belongs to those organizations who prepare today. The point is that while hiring numbers are down it is the best of times to strengthen recruiting practices and focus on providing motivating conditions for employees to improve the bottom line. |
|
Why "hidden turnover" matters |
|
Our experience supported by organization-wide surveys consistently shows that “hidden turnover” in organizations is far higher than the numbers who actually leave. If unmanaged these numbers can grow even higher when jobs are scarce and this can affect your ability to keep top performers motivated and prepared to “go the extra mile.” The key people risk today is rising numbers of the disengaged, disaffected and dissatisfied who will do little to achieve critical objectives in perilous times. |
|
The risks in downturn conditions are not dissimilar to the risks in high turnover periods. If workloads become unmanageable, those who remain can experience a range of emotions from frustration and unhappiness to loss of morale and stress to the point where some will psychologically quit yet remain on the payroll. When some of these become malcontents they can actually do more harm to the morale of others than make a useful contribution. |
|
Five Main Triggers for Top Performers to Quit |
|
Nothing hurts an organization more than the loss of its top performers as these are the people who make the greatest difference in productivity, presenteeism, creativity, innovation and client satisfaction and service. While motivating and retaining top talent is a challenge at the best of times, it must not be neglected in tough times. Top performers want opportunities for growth, learning, recognition for good work, and career development - all of which can get lost in periods of high turnover or downturns when workloads become unmanageable. |
|
We have learned a lot about why people leave their jobs conducting independent exit surveys for organizations. We see a consistent pattern when it comes to what causes top performers to leave and with the exception of those who leave for better jobs and promotions, the reasons for many to leave are a result of the management practices these people encounter every day at work. |
|
The five main triggers for high performers to leave are: |
|
Other good performers are leaving. |
|
Replacements take too long (or don’t come at all). |
|
Workloads become unmanageable with no end in sight. |
|
When replacements arrive, they are less capable than those who left. |
|
Opportunities for growth and learning disappear. |
|
Managing workloads is crucial at all times and care must be taken to ensure that managers are not dumping all the extra work on the best and the brightest for unreasonable periods of time or they will leave the moment new opportunities arise. It the talent wars commence again it is better to prepare now despite the tough conditions. Both managers and human resources departments must be focused at identifying top performers and keeping them unharmed and on the team with continuing opportunities for growth, achievement and development. |
|
Greg Basham is the CEO of eeVoices Ltd , a Hong Kong based company that conducts pre-employment screening, exit interviewing and organization surveys. |
|
^Top |
