They say that when America sneezes, everyone else catches a cold. Well, here’s a US sneeze which could be coming our way, and which employers need to be aware of.

 

According to a recent survey in the States by the Corporate Executive Board, a research and advisory services company, one in four top employees plans to change jobs within the next 12 months. That’s a staggering quarter of all top level personnel. And, even if they don’t all actually do so, that’s a lot of people who would like to work elsewhere, whether because they want career advancement or because they’re feeling disenchanted with their workplace.

 

And if even a small proportion of that quarter who want to leave are feeling unhappy with their workplace, that’s a big worry for bosses who need their team to be 100 per cent behind them and their company, if they are to pull through this economic downturn.

 

George Penn, senior director of the Corporate Leadership Council at the Corporate Executive Board, summed it up. “Organisations really need to stop the bleeding of their top talent loss to help with their competitive advantage. We saw some disturbing trends in the intent of high potentials to leave their current employer.”

 

 

So why are the talented workers wanting to move on? Penn said the increase could, at least in part, be attributed to the state of the economy. The talented may been affected more significantly than other employees, especially with companies restructuring, rounds of layoffs, and the departure of peers and managers.  But there’s more to it than just the economy. The Corporate Executive Board compiled information from more than 4,300 exit interviews from 80 companies and then compared them to the results of similar exit interviews in 2008.

 

In 2008, as the recession was beginning, 42 per cent of people who had recently left their jobs said they would not recommend their former employer - about the same percentage as 2006. Now that figure has risen to more than 75 per cent. In 2011, more than three-quarters of those who had recently quit said they would not recommend their former employer.

 

Unemployment may be high, but that’s no reason for employers to be cavalier about their staff – the “there are plenty more where you come from” approach. This loss of staff is costly for employers, who then have to replaced, inducted and, potentially, retrained. There is a strong link between customer loyalty and the average length of employee service along with plenty or evidence of the loss of ‘intellectual property’ when long term talent leave.  People who know how an organisation is wired, how to get things done internally and how a client likes things presented matters in tougher times probably more than in the easier times.  

 

 

Talent retention takes work as a salary only buys ‘hands and feet’ however much you pay. If you want ‘head and heart’ – it take effective leadership, a positive dynamic culture, growth potential, stretching goals with genuine responsibilities and authentic coaching – to name just a few…

 

As our internal communication and employee engagement programmes have been effective elsewhere – if this is a topic you want to explore further do get in touch there might just be some value in us having a chat..?