Pause and Reboot: A Turnover Lesson

I'd like to think that we learn from our mistakes. This certainly extends to the decisions made concerning employees and their roles. We might not always make brilliant staffing decisions. However, we can extract useful information from our blunders and utilize the lessons learned to move forward.

People, and the roles that we define for them, have a significant impact upon success and growth. One key indicator of that important people-role dynamic is turnover. If we can begin to look at turnover as not only a metric — but as an impetus for role clarity — we could begin to revise our journey and improve the potential to excel.

Let me explain.

This change in perspective can begin with hiring managers. I often hear from managers that they feel a palpable time pressure to fill vacated roles rather quickly. (In fact, an employee in the role yesterday, isn't soon enough.) This is in part due to a considerable amount of anxiety concerning the additional workload that is shifted to other team members, and the overall disruption in the cycle of work. Not surprisingly, we want his resolved quickly. However, this can create a cycle of mediocrity. Managers move much too quickly — and haven't paused to regroup and evaluate the reasons behind the turnover. As a result, a less than optimal candidate is put into the role and the cycle continues.

Taking a moment to re-envision the role going forward, while pausing to conceptualize the "best fit" candidate to bring that role to life, is a simple, yet effective step to impact growth. If you begin to build roles effectively, and follow this with effective recruitment strategies, overall effectiveness (regardless of industry) can be enhanced.

Stop and ask the following: What is the essence or purpose of the role moving forward? What skills and experience are required to excel, not simply function? As an example, if your organization aspires to broaden its customer base, ensure that you are looking for an individual who thinks about customers in an innovative manner. Be sure to identify that element as a firm recruiting priority.

Some other ideas to accomplish this:

• Complete a post-mortem. Why did the last employee vacate the role? Poor fit? Lack of agreement on best practices or processes? Review the explanations for the turnover and weave what you learn into the goals of your next search. Complete that feedback loop.
  
• Review the job description. Does the description meet the current needs of the department or organization? Do not stand on ceremony here, if the role doesn't work as it stands, cut through the red tape and revise it.
• Don't jump the gun. Don't hire the next "competent" person that walks through your door. Minimum requirements don't move mountains - but excellence does. Hold out for best fit, wherever possible.
• Don't waver. If "excellence in managing people" is one of the top requirement for the role, do not move from that position. Search for that person — then search some more.
• Ask tough interview questions. Be sure that you probe all of your "top role requirements" during an interview. Seek out the whole story and ask situational questions based upon the critical behaviors needed to perform the role. Keep in mind that in most cases, nothing is a better predictor of future behavior, than past behavior.
• Prepare them. Don't throw a key employee into a new role without proper on-boarding. Explain where the organization is headed and how they fit into the broader picture. Nurturing engagement can help prevent turnover.
• Grow from within. Always have one eye on succession planning and the progression of current employees into key roles. If a key role does turnover, you'll undoubtedly be better prepared.

Does your organization allow time to re-envision roles after turnover? Share your strategies to match the right people with the right job.