 Jumping
Ship: Are your employees itching to leave?
What's going to happen when the job market improves? And how will it affect
your business?
Not surprisingly, the results of a survey conducted by the
Society for Human Resource
Management (SHRM) and
CareerJournal.com
shows that the majority of HR professionals and employees believe job turnover
will rise significantly once the job market improves. And, both groups expect
the job market to improve in the next year.
Eighty-three percent of employees said it was extremely likely or somewhat
likely that they would actively seek new employment once the job market and
economy improved. In addition, 56% of HR professionals agreed it was extremely
likely or somewhat likely that voluntary turnover would rise due to the
improving economy.
That prediction is something small businesses with limited financial resources
need to consider - and worry about - in planning long-term staffing and ongoing
client contracts. Although no employer likes to think about the possibility of
key employees quitting, loyalty to an employer isn't uppermost in most
employees' minds. Money and career advancement are. Here are the top three
reasons employees cited for changing jobs once the job market improves:
- 53 percent—better compensation and benefits
- 35 percent—dissatisfaction with potential career development
- 32 percent—ready for a new experience.
Survey results also show that HR professionals have retention program in
place that they believe will lower voluntary turnover rates as the job market
improves. The most commonly cited retention programs were:
- 62 percent—tuition reimbursement
- 60 percent—competitive vacation and holiday benefits
- 59 percent—competitive salary
But small businesses, often don't have a dedicated HR professional on staff.
Nor do they typically have the money to fund tuition reimbursement plans,
extended vacations, or very competitive salaries. And benefits? The
soaring costs of healthcare insurance makes it harder and harder for small
businesses to provide decent healthcare for their employees. In fact, it's not
unusual for the owner of some of the very small businesses to get healthcare for
themselves through their spouse's corporate plan.
Yet another problem: HR professionals in
smaller organizations may be underestimating the potential for turnover in their
organizations. The survey found that while 71 percent of the HR professionals in
large organizations (those with more than 500 employees) thought it would be
extremely likely or somewhat likely to experience an increase in voluntary
turnover once the job market improves, only 41 percent of those in small
organizations (1-99 employees) said it was extremely likely or somewhat likely
that there would be an increase in turnover.
What's your take? Is your small business likely to be affected? What steps
are you taking, if any, to reduce turnover, or to cross-train employees to
handle critical tasks in case a key employee leaves? Post a message on our
message
board, or
drop us a
line in email.
Recent Columns
About the author
Janet Attard is the founder of
the award-winning Business
Know-How small business web site and information resource. Janet is
also the author of The
Home Office And Small Business Answer Book and of Business
Know-How: An Operational Guide For Home-Based and Micro-Sized Businesses with
Limited Budgets. Follow Janet on Twitter at
http://www.twitter.com/JanetAttard.
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