"KEEP UP YOUR FLEXIBILITY TO ENJOY STABILITY!!!"

Stability is the state of being resistant to change and not prone to wild fluctuations in emotion. An example of stability is a calm, stable life where you don't have wild ups and downs. The state or quality of being stable, especially: a. Resistance to change, deterioration, or displacement. b. Constancy of character or purpose; steadfastness. An example of stability is a calm, stable life where you don't have wild ups and downs

Ways to Improve Your Balance and Stability

Improving your balance may not be number one on your priority list, but maybe it should be. Balance falls into the same category as flexibility, core strength, and mobility.

These are all things our bodies need to function efficiently, but many of us don't actually do exercises to improve them. If you exercise regularly, you already work on your balance without even knowing it. But, just because you exercise doesn't mean there isn't room for improvement.

Easy Ways to Improve Your Balance

1. Incorporate unilateral exercises (one arm or one leg at a time) or by changing your stance, you are doing balancing exercises into your strength training routine. For example, using a split stance requires more balance than a wide stance. Even harder, stand on one leg.
2. When you're using machines to lift weights, sit away from the pad to work on those torso stabilizers.
3. Get an exercise ball. Among the multitude of exercises you can do, you can also simply sit on it while you watch television or work on the computer. You'll work on your balance and burn a few more calories.
4. Incorporate simple balancing moves all day long. While you're standing in line, try to balance on one leg for as long as you can. To make it harder, close your eyes!
5. Walk with a book on your head. It'll improve your balance and your posture.
6. Incorporate yoga into your regular routine. Yoga accomplishes lots of things in one shot: you increase your balance, stability, flexibility and muscular endurance.

Check out these new-fangled balancing tools to really help you remain stable in an unstable environment.

Playing around with fitness tools like the ones listed below can also help you gain more stability and balance, as well as help you strengthen your core. 

The Bongo Board

The Bongo Board is great for improving balance and coordination.

It looks like a skateboard but has a rotating wheel underneath that allows you to maneuver it in any direction whether your indoors or outdoors. The grippers on top keep your feet in place so you won't fall off.

The informational packet that comes with the board warns you to use a spotter the first time and that's because it is difficult to find your balance at first. Without help, you may find yourself flying headfirst into the wall. Once you get the hang of it, you won't be able to stop using it. The Bongo Board site shows some basic exercises you can do including pushups, squats, and upper body weight training exercises while standing on it.

Exercise Balls

Another great tool for balance is the exercise ball or stability ball. The stability ball is great because of its versatility. You can use it to strengthen your core muscles (abs, back, and pelvic floor) and, meanwhile, you're automatically working on your balance and internal stabilizers. You can also use your ball for stretching exercises, and you can even use it as a weight bench to perform upper body exercises like chest presses and pushups.

Wobble Boards 

The wobble board is another popular item on the market these days. Like the Bongo Board, the wobble board is used to help improve balance and agility.

Most wobble boards are circular and have a sphere underneath that adjusts to different angles according to your skill level. You can do squats, lunges or upper body exercises while standing on it to add a balance challenge to your workouts.

DIY Stability Tools

There are also ways to make your own stability equipment at home. The next time you lie down for weight training exercises, place a rolled up towel lengthwise under your back and try to balance on it while lifting. Or, stand on a couch cushion while doing standing exercises, such as bicep curls or overhead presses. The key when it comes to balance training is to start slowly.

It's easy to hurt yourself if you don't take your time and allow your body to get used to being in an unstable environment.

Stability is a key element required for every human movement. Stability is necessary for all locomotor and object control skills. Stability skills are focused on maintaining and acquiring balance, both static and dynamic. Your child is constantly seeking to maintain stability throughout the day

EMPLOYMENT STABILITY

Employment stability (and security) is an organization outcome that is likely to be important from both employee and public policy perspectives. Additionally, as discussed below, employment stability may~have a number of long tern l efficiency advantages that may translate into long term benefits for shareholders.

Ways to Find Greater Stability in Your Job

Chaos happens. Here's what to do to stay productive. Chaos is the enemy of productivity. And yet, there are times when you just can't avoid the disruption. Your company is moving to another state, or the top leadership at your company is going through a major transition. It's chaos all day every day. Even in the midst of the storm, there are a few ways to keep your sanity. These technique can help you finish projects even when the chaos invades.

1. Gravitate to what works

In times of stress and change, the best thing you can do to get some stability is to go back to what worked in the past. For me, that's going to a cafe in my town that is quiet and well-suited to writing. For you, it might mean renting an office and installing a stable Internet connection. You have a place, a time, a mindset, and even people who have helped you stay on task. Go back to what worked before and you will likely find some new stability.

2. Learn to separate life changes from work

Life happens. But that doesn't mean it has to interrupt your work. You have to teach yourself how to deal with changes in life and make sure you keep on task at work. That might seem cold, but the biggest realization to make is that it's just work. Does finishing up that business report compare to your wife having a baby? Not really. So, it's OK to see work as less important and separate from your real life and something that just needs to exist on its own.

3. String your trips together

If at all possible, try to do one trip that accomplishes multiple objectives or travel to a few places in a row and get it over with. When you go on a trip, you switch to a different mode of thinking, one that is focused on getting to the new destination. Paul Theroux, one of my favorite travel writers, has said that travel is as much about the departure as the arrival. But it all takes time and energy, so spend it all in one week or even a ten-day period. Then, get back at it.

4. At least work out the tech kinks

A lack of stability is often the result of changes at work or in life, and they might be unavoidable. There is something you can still control, though. Make sure, even in the midst of the changes and uncertainty, that you have gear that's in working order. To get things working, it might mean taking a trip to Best Buy and purchasing a new laptop. Like, today. One of the easiest ways to get some stability is to just use gear that is fully functional, fast, and reliable.

5. Listen to your inner voice

I believe it is the correct human response to want to have stability. We all want to live in peace. Few of us like instability. Because of that inner desire, it is sometimes good to just sit for a few minutes and really get your head around this idea of still working hard and staying productive. It is partly a mindset, even if your company is being sold, your kids are going to college, or your bank account is a mess. It requires effort to return to a productive mindset. When you do, you can grab onto that inner voice and stay on task. You can cut through the noise.

As the labor market continues to tighten, employers are increasingly concerned about maintaining a stable workforce. They need competent, dedicated, and effective workers to serve their customers to fulfill their missions. Without a sufficient qualified and productive workforce, employers are vulnerable to competitive forces as well as the impact of negative relationships with their customers. It is frustratingly difficult to find, recruit, and hire the caliber of employees that companies desire today. To assure that they have qualified people in their jobs--at all levels, companies are faced with several alternatives:

• continually engage in expensive processes to find and attract desired workers
• deliberately engage in efforts to retain the talent they already have
• re-engineer their structure, systems, and procedures to reduce the number of positions to be filled.

Unable or unwilling to make the investment to pursue any of these alternatives, some companies turn to outsourcing to reduce their need to maintain their customary workforce. This strategy can have its advantages, but sends messages to employees that their job security is in jeopardy and thereby encourages departures . . . higher turnover.

Our Changing Times

Employers have managed well with acceptable rates of employee turnover for years. People left, for one reason or another, and employers simply hired replacements. With over 76 million people in the Baby Boomer generation (born between 1946 and 1964), employers enjoyed a virtual cornucopia of workers flowing into the labor pool.

The work culture suggested that people should remain in their jobs for a long time. The tradition of the majority was clearly to work for decades for the same employer, earn the gold watch, enjoy the retirement party, and bask in the respect of peers and successors. Longevity was a good quality, to be cherished by the worker and highly valued by the company. Employee turnover was not a problem. People who moved from job to job too frequently were described as "job-hoppers," a term that was regarded as less than complimentary. Questions were raised about why the employee couldn't hold a job. The custom was to stay in a particular job track, climbing the proverbial ladder of success with the fervent hope that it was leaning against the right building. All too often, workers completing 25-30 years with the same employer eagerly anticipated retirement so they could do things they enjoyed during their retirement years. Their careers had not been satisfying, but social mores encouraged them to accept their circumstances and "make the best of it."

Until relatively recently, work was seen as a sort of necessary evil. One had to work to support self and family. Needing a steady job, employees were reluctant to "rock the boat" or "bite the hand that fed them." They endured oppressive autocratic management and silliness just to keep that all-important paycheck coming in. Discontinuity on the resume was a bad thing, something to be avoided at all costs--including remaining in a job that was distasteful, unfulfilling, or unwanted. Consequently, large numbers of people simply "attended work," putting in their time. Their bodies were there, but their hearts were not.

We're in the midst of a transition--from people "living to work" to people "working to live." We're moving away from continually identifying ourselves occupationally to "getting a life," to quote the vernacular. People now actively seek balance in their lives; they're no longer interested in working long hours just to bring in more money. The monetary rewards have become less important than time . . . time to lead a balanced, happy life.

Young people today--the twenty-somethings--have some significantly different attitudes about work and careers. They want to control their own careers, rather than place their work futures in the hands of managers or human resource administrators who may or may not have their best interests at heart.

The New Values Generation

The oft-discussed work ethic is still alive and well. It's just different. People still want to work hard, take pride in their work, and make a difference in the world around them. In stark contrast to the last couple of generations, today's young workers want to control their own work lives, make their own decisions, and develop their own relationships with employers. They're no longer content to "go along with the program" as their employers, or at least their immediate supervisors, would like them to. They don't want to simply take orders and obey them; they want to actively participate in making the decisions that affect their work.

Today's workers--particularly those in their twenties and early thirties, but also a large proportion of those in their late thirties, forties, and fifties--seek greater meaning from their work. They want to see that their labors make a difference . . . somewhere: for society, for humanity, for global peace, or at least for an appreciative customer. They want to go home each day (or night) with a sense of satisfaction that they've made a viable contribution. Too many people have the feeling that they simply "attend work," showing up, doing what they're told, and going home. That's not enough anymore.

Management Discomfort

This divergence in attitude, from just following along and going with the flow to a substantially more independent attitude toward their work experience, is making life very uncomfortable for a lot of managers. Accustomed to subordinates obediently doing what they were told without question, interacting with workers who challenge the status quo and the procedures that suggest "we've always done it this way" is upsetting. Managers are not eager to accept civil disobedience in the world of work. These traditional managers are challenged to manage differently than their predecessors did. It's a new workplace lifestyle.

For many managers, the shift to a radically different style is difficult, if not impossible. They continue to "rule" with their customary style, in direct conflict with the relationship desired by today's employees. Result: today's employees, with plenty of other job opportunities, will leave much more readily than in past years. Their departures, usually unexpected, build a higher level of stress for the traditional managers--and their employers, exacerbating the problem and creating a fragile workplace that's decidedly not the kind of environment desired today.

Unstoppable Downward Spiral

The clash of old attitudes and expectations with the new has produced a dangerous vulnerability for employers. I describe this serious, potentially fatal, risk as "the unstoppable downward spiral." Here's the way it works.

With the internal and external pressures to produce at high levels with minimal costs and maximum turnaround efficiency, companies shave their overhead by cutting corners, reducing the workforce and sometimes downgrading payroll benefits, and increase the stress on those workers remaining. After every layoff, there's a palpable and persistent paranoia about who will be next.

The most competent and valuable employees are not content to remain in such a counterproductive and enthusiasm-dampening environment. There are plenty of opportunities for them with other employers, so they leave. The efforts of aggressive recruiters make the move to another company more attractive and more actionable.

A significant share of the knowledge and capacity that makes companies successful rests with the few most competent employees. The Pareto (80/20) Rule is certainly applicable here. When the best people leave, a disproportionate amount of corporate strength leaves with them. If too many of these valuable workers leave--and the number varies by company size, structure, and systems--the company can suffer deeply.

Customers will no longer be able to depend on those high performers who are gone. They begin to develop replacement relationships with other employees, but the linkages are more tenuous. Remaining employees feel the loss of wisdom, efficiency, and effectiveness because those highly competent top performers are gone.

The next most competent performers try to fill the shoes of those who have left. They're uneasy. On one hand, they wonder if they should be leaving, too. On the other hand, they may be unsure of their ability to rise to the occasion to truly perform as their mentors did. As they look at the capability of the new hires being brought into backfill open positions, they question the potential of the remaining employees to get the job done. Soon their emotions and logical analysis of the company's position motivate them to leave as well.

In a tight labor market, it's difficult to recruit replacement workers of equal caliber to what you lose in this kind of erosion. Customers sense this reduced ability to perform and seek alternative suppliers. Cash flow begins to wane, slightly at first and then more seriously. When the company has problems paying its bills, suppliers balk. The remaining competent employees get jittery and some abandon ship.

Before long, the company is struggling to serve a dwindling customer base with less-than- competent employees. Inevitably, unable to serve existing customers or attract new ones, the company is forced to close its doors. The whirlpool effect of this downward spiral is difficult to stop once it has begun.

This vulnerability is real. We've seen the downward spiral suck once-vibrant companies into the vortex of a fatal whirlpool of inadequacy. A large number of employers is at risk. Though most owners, executives, and managers choose to ignore the threat or minimize it, the exposure is substantial, Suddenly (we use this word, but the process is usually rather plodding), the company's best people are gone and the employers are trying to figure out what happened. As they ponder their circumstances, the second wave goes out the door. Most employers don't realize their problem until too late, so they get caught in the wake of crippling high turnover and have to work vigorously to save their companies.

Advantages of Workforce Stability

Stability in a company's workforce has a number of advantages for the company's health, for workers, for customers, for suppliers, for investors, for the industry, and for the economy at large.

Company Health. If the workforce is stable, management can invest its energy in moving the company forward. Leaders are not distracted by the need to continually hire new (replacement) employees, so they can concentrate on product/service development, marketing, quality and process improvement, and investment of surplus funds. They aren't required to staff their human resources department to feed "the revolving door. "Stable workforce employers have a greater potential of strong profits.

Workers. With a stable workforce, employees are surrounded by co-workers who know their jobs, know each other, and know what they're all striving to do together as a company. They're able to focus on productivity and satisfaction instead of continually showing new people how to fulfill their responsibilities. Training and development can be invested in helping dedicated employees grow and improve, rather than aimed at constantly rebuilding foundation skills in an ever-changing workforce.

Customers. With a need to depend on their suppliers, customers are most happy when they can concentrate on their own work and not worry about how suppliers will perform.

If suppliers have unstable work forces, customers are thrown off-balance by that nagging feeling that inadequate workers will miss critical deliveries or provide product/service that can't be used. If they can't have confidence in their suppliers, customers will seek alternative resources . . . quickly. Today's just-in-time designs have precious little tolerance for failure.

Suppliers. With a drive toward meeting customer needs efficiently and effectively, suppliers like to know who they're dealing with. What are their customer's expectations? What background do the customers have? How do those suppliers prefer to operate? Often suppliers depend on standardized procedures and productive relationships that assure open communication with minimal hassle. Workforce instability at a customer location dampens those relationships and anticipated performance. This confusion draws valuable resources to repeatedly rebuild connections and understandings to minimize service problems and boost billings.

Investors. Increasingly, savvy investors monitor workforce stability in companies where they invest--or consider investing. Stability is vital to them--they want to know that the company will be able to produce to improve shareholder value. Pumping resources into recruitment, training, and rebuilding efficiencies defeats expansion, growth, and even the company's efforts to maintain status quo. If investors are leery of putting money into a corporation that will not make the highest and best use of that capital.

The Industry. Recruiting new workers into an industry is essential for the continued health of all companies in the field. Workers usually look for career paths that show promise of personal and professional growth, expanding opportunity, and dependable employment with good working conditions and rewards. Rampant instability may send loud signals that this career path is not a wise decision and qualified workers will seek other alternatives. Faced with this kind of circumstance, trade associations are often tasked with generating interest in the industry, sponsoring multi-company recruiting activities, and developing industry-focused entry-level training programs.

Each of these efforts draws resources away from endeavors that can strengthen the industry's market position, use of technology, and strength in the economy. While continual marketing of opportunities in the field to promote career choice is important, resources are drained when the heavy recruitment becomes a mandate instead of an option.

Economy at Large. Workforce instability creates an unstable marketplace in a community--whether that community is a small town, metropolitan area, state, or national collection of similar companies. Corporate resources are directed toward stabilizing, backfilling, and maintaining, rather than research, technology development, and global positioning. The economy's growth is inhibited by a sort of paranoia that metaphorically ties together the feet of resources that could be running into a stronger future. Progress becomes considerably slowed, diminishing enthusiasm for investment in essential infrastructure. Entrepreneurs and moguls lose their inspiration and reduce the drive that creates greater job opportunities for others. It's all connected.

Forces Behind Turnover

To understand the costs of turnover, it's helpful to understand some of the forces behind the uncontrolled movement of workers out of a company's employment. Part of the movement is driven by societal forces; part is driven by internal forces.

Societal Influences. There are several forces driving employee movement between companies. One, discussed above, is the greater tendency of younger workers to change jobs relatively frequently. We expect this career management design to continue for the next 10-15 years. Younger workers will be the most obvious with this kind of behavior because they'll be watched more carefully. We anticipate that middle-aged workers (35-54) will gradually adopt this behavior to the point that a significant portion of our working population will be much more fluid than today. Clearly, the inclination to change jobs every 2-4 years (or even more frequently) will become stronger, contributing to workforce instability. Reducing this turnover inspired, condoned by society will require working against increasingly powerful trends.

Another influence, that will be most prevalent until about 2003-2005, is the consequence of something we call "corporate cocooning." We coined this phrase a few years ago to describe the phenomenon of workers remaining with employers when they would have preferred to change jobs. With the barrage of messages they received from the news media and other sources about the lack of jobs in the early 1990s, unhappy workers reluctantly stayed in the jobs they had--begrudgingly maintaining their "cocoons" of safety, security, and employment continuity. They felt trapped, however, and looked forward to the day they could escape their circumstances and move to other employment. Now, as people take advantage of the opportunity to escape, the availability of jobs will stimulate and recharge an unprecedented churning in the labor marketplace.

We forecast that the first wave of job-jumpers will be motivated by a desire to simply change jobs. Get another job, any job. The second change, six to 24 months later, will be more deliberate with a focus on a particular career opportunity. The third change will be more motivated by career development issues and compensation.

Dilbert. Another driver for people to change jobs is best characterized by Scott Adams' popular cartoon, Dilbert. There is a rising impatience with inept management and corporate silliness. As ridiculous as many of the Dilbert strips seem to be, they are most definitely real in corporate environments from coast to coast. Many workers are tired of laughing and shaking their heads at the craziness and will change jobs in hopes of finding more sane situations. Unfortunately, the majority of these folks will jump the fence to greener grass only to discover that it's the same crab grass they just left.

This irritation and frustration with thick-headed management will inspire many people to start their own businesses. Many of these operations will be home-based businesses, but certainly not all of them. Start-ups in many fields will be combined with the purchase of existing businesses and franchising to provide thousands with the opportunity to realize their dream. While success may not come as quickly or as strongly as desired, this shift away from working for current employers will pull a lot of good, qualified workers out of the national pool of available labor.

Each of these trends and influence rs will feed the need for a growing number of jobs to search for people in a shrinking pool of eligible workers. Employers, almost desperate for decent workers, will intensify their recruiting of employed "targets," challenging further the fragile employment stability in most companies. The resource of unemployed or underemployed workers will no longer be sufficient, so every working person is now fair game for the recruiters.

Other Internal Influences. Unenlightened management is frequently cited as the motivation for people to change employers. Dilbert cartoons and books address these issues so well, we won't go any further into that domain. It is, however, important to appreciate that much of this management "misbehavior" flows from the organization's perceived culture. Assessing and modifying corporate culture is a responsibility--an obligation--of the senior leaders. Unfortunately, most leaders are ignorant or insensitive about culture and its impact . . . and the power of their involvement to make substantial positive change. These leaders must become more educated and more involved in guiding their organizations' cultures, or risk the dangerous consequences of greater workforce instability and the attendant problems.

Other major factors affecting employee stability include a wide range of relationship issues, collaboration and support enabling people to get their jobs done, training and education, and the always-mentioned compensation concerns. Research suggests that financial compensation is becoming less and less important as a determinant of job preference. In fact, anecdotal evidence reveals that people are actually switching to employment opportunities that offer less income . . . but offer more of the other values sought by today's workers. The lateral career paths of the past are now "hop-scotch" patterns that are much less predictable.

Costs of Uncontrolled Employee Turnover

There are several different approaches to measuring employee turnover, defections, terminations, etc. Realistically, we must explore both "hard costs"--the numbers, as well as the many "soft" costs of uncontrolled turnover. Some of these costs, both hard and soft, defy accurate measurement. Others are rather easy to calculate.

Let's begin with a perspective on what we describe as "indirect" or "soft" costs of employee turnover. The following lists are not complete. They're designed to be a start--to get you thinking more broadly about the consequences of not hiring, optimizing, or retaining employees at the greatest possible levels.

As a statement of harsh reality, let us not forget that employee turnover costs come right off the bottom line. The extra expense of replacing workers who leave unexpectedly eats away at profits . . . profits that take much greater numbers in sales to generate. A relatively small negative impact on the bottom line requires a significant increase in sales to compensate. Large impacts on the bottom line cause substantially higher sales to be necessary, perhaps even beyond the company's capacity.

Indirect Costs

Indirect costs can be far-ranging and difficult to measure, yet they are as real as dollars flowing out of your pocket. Some observers suggest that the soft costs, with all their ramifications, have a far deeper impact that the dramatic dollar amounts that are lost through the hard, measurable costs of inadequate or unstable staffing.

Externally-Related Costs

Unhappy customers due to inferior quality/service .When the product or service isn't what the customer wants, because the workers can't get the job done, customers will seek alternative suppliers. The cost of lost customers can be tremendous, but may be difficult to measure exactly.

continuing initiatives to establish and re-establish relationships with customers

It takes more to win a new customer than to keep an existing one. When the employees who built and maintained customer relationships are gone, links to those valuable customers are weakened. Rebuilding them takes a considerable investment, often involving senior executives who must be drawn from their other important work to coddle confused customers. uncertain reputation in the field--will this company have the capacity to serve me?

• When questions of capacity and stability arise, rumors start to spread. This kind of wildfire is almost impossible to control. Countless dollars of business will be lost as customers select suppliers who seem more dependable; the damaged company may never know.

Internally-Related Costs

low employee morale

• Low morale affects current and future employees, including supervisors and management. Employees in low morale companies spend much of their working time looking for another job. The impact on productivity can only be imagined.

difficulty recruiting to company with a reputation for high turnover

• More and more, workers will select their next employer--rather than the other way around. We're operating in a sellers' market for labor in many areas. Desired workers will not make decisions to join companies that can not hold their current employees.

stress suffered by managerial and supervisory staff

• Managing companies is stressful enough without the challenge of continual hiring to fill critical vacant positions. Managers who can't get their work done because of this constant drain on their time will look elsewhere for career satisfaction. In the meantime, they'll generate more conflict and stress within the organization.

workers' resistance to new and untrained workers

• With today's lean employment posture, most companies are short-staffed already. Dedicated workers are hard-pressed to accomplish the work that must be done; they have little patience with demands to continually train new workers.

constant efforts to build and re-build ever-changing teams

• Every time the composition of a team is changed, the team must be rebuilt. When teams change too rapidly, the members spend more time rebuilding than they do accomplishing the team's mission and goals.

lack of corporate cohesiveness

• It takes time and effort to generate cohesiveness in an organization. That cohesiveness is essential to get everyone pulling in the same direction. Without it, many people or departments pull in different directions, sometimes even working at cross-purposes to others in the same organization! A stable workforce is a prime ingredient in getting everyone to "sing from the same sheet of music."

increased costs of promoting and maintaining corporate culture

• With a continual flow of new people, resources must be allocated specifically to employee orientation, clarification of expectations, and company spirit. Existing employees must be assigned to "partner" with new people to bring them into the fold. This waste of resources also pulls existing employees away from their work, diminishing their effectiveness.

inefficiency due to people not knowing the system, procedures, where things are

• When people leave, they take with them a certain amount of knowledge and experience. They're the ones who knew how to get things done; others didn't pay that much attention because they had others doing it for them. Suddenly, remaining employees discover there is a lot they don't know. This ignorance impacts productivity negatively, frustrates confused workers, and lowers morale.

Direct Costs

Many of the costs associated with employee turnover--mostly with the replacement of people who leave unexpectedly--can be accurately measured and tracked. Various employers have engaged in exhaustive studies to collect and analyze these costs, and their numbers range from hundreds to thousands of dollars.

orientation and training new employees

• In this category, consider the compensation (including benefits) of the people who must devote time to this work. Look at short-term and long-term costs as new employees are brought to at least the same level as the people they replaced. Some employers should also consider the value of training space, if specifically allocated, over and above what may be needed to serve a stable workforce.

cost of temporary workers or overtime required from regular employees to fill-in

• This figure is easily measured. If you have to pay overtime, hire temporary workers, send work out, or let things go to perform the duties of the departed employee, this is a measurable cost. When calculating overtime, include both the base pay and the overtime increment. Check benefits to see if any of them are cost- sensitive to the number of hours worked. Don't forget "hidden" costs like the extra costs of Social Security due to increased paycheck amounts. Are there other incremental costs such as additional supervision expenses, security, or company-provided transportation?

lost production due to slower new employee

• When newer employees don't yet know their jobs, their involvement slows the process. Compare the new employee productivity rate against your standard and you'll discover some measurable costs. Evaluate the far-reaching multiple impacts of the lower productivity, including the potential of lost sales, disgruntled customers, and irritated and impatient existing workers who just want to get their job done.

lost production due to increased accidents, unfamiliarity

• New employees learning a new machine or new procedure are not familiar with the work or the methods. They'll slow down the system and, depending on the kind of work, may be at a higher risk of injury. Safety precautions take a while to learn and the exposure is greater until a high safety awareness is in place. There are measurable costs associated with on-the-job accidents, including personal injury and treatment, insurance premium adjustments, investigative costs, clean-up and repair, and lost time. Too many accidents may bring complicating and time- consuming visits from representatives of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

expense of equipment and facilities not used/under used/improperly used

• Maintenance and repair of tools, equipment, and facilities is a measurable cost. Out-of-the-ordinary costs that can be tracked to uninitiated or untrained new workers can be separated as an extra cost associated with workforce instability.

increase in unemployment insurance premiums

• Sometimes employees get fed-up and leave without having another job to go to. Or they start work on the new job, don't stay long, and file for unemployment benefits . . . and you're liable as a covered employer. Watch for these overlooked costs of uncontrolled employee turnover. Depending on the volume and other actors, which vary by state, your premium costs could rise.

increase in costs of processing extra personnel files, W-2 reports

• The costs associated with employment include administrative functions such as maintaining personnel files, submitting various reports to government agencies, and generating earnings reports for all the people who have worked for you during the past year--regardless of their length of employment.

additional staff needed in human resources to manage exit interviews, follow-up

• When employees leave, astute employers want to know why they left. Exit interviews are highly recommended--at the time of departure and perhaps again after some time has passed. Depending on the kind of job occupied by the departing employee, there may be a need to collect keys, pagers, uniforms, tools, or other company property. If these items aren't turned in, a company representative may have to find the former employee to claim the property. The interviews, record-keeping, and follow-up take time . . . measurable time. To gain more accurate and realistic input, many employers are hiring outside consultants to conduct exit surveys and interviews. The costs can be considerable.

extra costs of processing drop/add paperwork for employee benefits

• Calculate the time it takes to complete and process the paperwork associated with employee benefit programs. Any changes require staff time, even if the information processing is computer-assisted. A certain amount of this kind of work is a necessary cost of doing business; higher turnover demands more staff time to handle the changes. With an understanding of transaction cost, you can determine the extra costs driven by employee turnover.

administrative costs of excessive uniform issue, cleaning, collection

• Does your company use uniforms? They can be very expensive, especially if you have to constantly change sizes, adjust your inventory, and collect uniforms left at home by departing employees. Check out those inventory costs and compare them against what the costs would be with a more stable workforce. Don't forget to factor in the staffing cost of continually issuing uniforms to new employees.

cost of executives' time participating in meetings about reducing turnover

• Here's a fun number to watch! Do a rough calculation of the value of executive compensation (including benefits) for senior people meeting about excessive turnover. A one-hour meeting once a month can produce some serious costs. Is this a legitimate cost to consider? It is when you recognize that those high-priced executives could be engaged in more productive work to generate profits, instead of being subjected to an overload of meetings about finding and keeping people. Their concern about such resources should be on a strategic level, not worrying about operational level statistics.

Calculating Turnover Rates

To appreciate the high cost of uncontrolled employee turnover, we need to explore some methods of calculating turnover and its impact. There are several approaches to determining this important measure of organizational success--or vulnerability.

Fundamental Turnover Rate

The Department of Labor's formula for computing turnover is to divide the number of employee separations by the total number of people in the workforce, expressing the result as a percentage. This formula is considered a standard in the field.

Once computed, this rate can be compared against similarly-computed rates for other periods to analyze trends. Subgroups and industry groups can be compared against each 13 other or against national averages. Useful sources of national data are the Monthly

Avoidable Separation Turnover Rate

To reach a more valuable measure, you can calculate the turnover rate for avoidable separations. This figure is more significant since it represents the portion of employee turnover that is controllable. To compute this ratio, deduct separations over which the organization has no control, such as pregnancy, illness, death, pre-planned return to school, marriage, spousal relocation, and involuntary terminations. The remaining number is divided by the total midperiod workforce to produce the Avoidable Separation Turnover Rate.

Longevity Turnover Rate

Many employers experience higher turnover among newer employees. Applicants think they understand what will be expected of them on the job, accept the position, report for work, and quickly discover that this work is not something they want to do. Including these short-term departures in your calculations may inappropriately skew your results.

Isolate the figures that represent your new employee terminations. Use the formulas to evaluate new employee turnovers and turnover rates for employees who have been with you for a while.

Consider average term of employment in your assessment of turnover. Explore length of time with your organization in analyzing turnover rates . . . and strategizing management of this aspect of human resources.

Special Group Analysis

As you conduct an in-depth assessment of your turnover rates--and causes, give some thought to your areas of greatest vulnerability. A high turnover rate among easy-to-replace positions is sometimes not as critical as a moderate rate in hard-to-fill occupations. Examine turnover and longevity among managers, salespeople, research scientists, truck drivers, or other special interest groups in your company. This approach will enable you to appraise qualitative turnover as well as quantitative.

Macro Turnover Costs

While it's valuable to understand what it costs to replace an employee--in terms of both productivity and re-hiring, the real impact of these numbers occurs when we look at the big picture. Few companies have only one employee leave unexpectedly each year. So, the real impact is when we multiply our per-person costs by the number of people who leave during a given period.

From what we've seen, many companies calculate their turnover costs with a limited view of the true exposure. Their focus is on replacement costs--recruiting, hiring, testing, and maybe training. As described in this report, the real costs go much deeper and broader.

When we survey employers about their calculation of turnover cost, we hear a wide range of figures. This diversity is expected, since each company manages costs and their accounting in different ways. Our concern is what categories of costs are included to give executives and managers a realistic picture of the impact of turnover on their bottom line.

A fast-food giant concentrates on the expense of hiring and providing initial training to enable an employee to begin work. For counter clerks, their cost is documented to be Rs.600 per hire. This particular company has a 130% turnover rate. In one of their operations (not the entire company), they employ several thousand people. Let's just look at a universe of 2000 employees. At 130% turnover means that 600 extra people are hired during the year at $600 hiring cost. Not even considering the other hard costs and the soft costs, this company lost Rs.360,000 . . . off the bottom line! Let's assume a 10% profit margin for the sake of discussion. With these factors, the company would have to gross Rs3,600,000 in sales to earn the 10% profit that is "neutralized" by the cost of employee turnover. And margins are not that great in the grocery industry.

A major hotel chain calculates their cost in hiring and providing initial training to front desk and guest service personnel at Rs.1,200. They're working with a turnover rate of 80%. The numbers speak for themselves. Another major hotel has 7,000 employees. The vice president of human resources tells me he's computed that it costs Rs.6,800 to replace an employee who leaves unexpectedly. He's proud of having a 12% turnover rate, very low for that industry. At 12% of 7,000 employees, we generate a need to hire 840 people . . . at a turnover cost of Rs.5,712,000.

Employee turnover is a bottom line issue. While we will never completely eliminate turnover, every bit of reduction makes a tremendous difference to the health of the organization--financially and otherwise. Investing in deliberate employee retention is clearly a wise strategy.

The expressions mean almost the same thing. A " steady job" is one that is very routine and pays a decent but not a high amount of money. It is also a safe job. A "stable job" is similar with the added benefit that the work is usually continuous. There are no sudden layoffs or labor strife. The fact of an employee, or a group of employees, being able to keep the same job for a long time: There are certain industries that still offer long-term job stability.

ob Stability

Job stability is not just about your ability to hold a job. It also means you will enjoy steady pay and benefits, and reduced stress levels. If you take a job at a company in a declining industry, or know the business itself has been losing sales or market share, you might end up being one of the first people fired if you’re a new hire. Even if you’re not fired, an unstable business might cut back your hours, reduce your pay or eliminate certain benefits. These issues are much less of a problem at a stable company.

Income

One of the first things to consider when determining whether to take a job you might lose is the impact it will have on your income. If you are searching for a job and have several leads, taking the wrong job can cause you to miss out on other, better opportunities. On the other hand, if you are in dire financial straits and are offered a high-paying job that lasts only a few months, the income you earn there might be enough to help you pay off debt and give you breathing room to look for a new job. In this case, job stability is not important when compared to your need for immediate income.

Relocation

When you relocate, you incur a number of costs. These include moving expenses; the cost to disconnect old phone and utility services and connect new ones; deposits or down payments on new apartments or houses; and the cost to set up new bank accounts and other services. If you are considering a job that requires relocation, job stability is very important. You not only need a sure and steady income to help cover your expenses. You also want to ensure that you have a few years of steady work so you can build up professional contacts in your new city. These contacts will come in handy in case your current job falls through somewhere down the line.

Health Insurance

Choosing to work for a company you know is unstable might be a good idea if it gives you access to health insurance benefits. If you are out of work and don't have any insurance, job stability might be less important for the time being than the peace of mind that comes with knowing you are covered in case you run into high medical bills.

Your Resume

Taking a job you lose after a year might not be a bad thing if you receive on-the-job training, such as learning a specific computer program, that makes you a more attractive job candidate for other jobs. In this case, job stability isn't that important. Just make sure you don't take too many unstable jobs. If you lose them and wind up with a long list of new jobs on your resume, this is a negative for many hiring managers.

Stability Is Good for Employees And Bosses

Unpredictable, unstable work hours, over which workers may have little control, make it difficult for any employee, at any level of income, to combine or schedule caregiving for family members, education, participation in civic and religious organizations or another job. But uncertain schedules make paychecks precarious for hourly workers whose wages depend on the number of hours they work and who constitute most of the work force.

Forty-one percent of hourly workers in their late 20s and early 30s say they get a week or less notice of when they will need to work and 3 in 4 report at least some fluctuation in the number of hours they worked in the prior month. Half say that their employer decides their work hours. Only a third report having some input into their work schedule.

Fluctuations in work have different outcomes depending on the caliber of job.

For example, at the lower end of the labor market, early-career workers are not able to secure steady, predictable earnings and are often underemployed. Ninety percent of food service workers experienced work-hour fluctuations in the prior month. Half of janitors and housekeepers report that their employer completely controls the timing of their work, and half of retail workers know their schedule a week or less in advance.

There is mounting evidence to show that schedule predictability and stable hours foster employee engagement and performance.

The fluctuations at the upper-levels of the labor market show the opposite problem: over 75 percent of early-career workers in upper-tier occupations report work-hour fluctuations of at least 30 percent but this primarily reflects surges in work hours that place them at risk of over-work.

A comprehensive set of legal scheduling standards is needed to ensure that workers in all occupations and at all levels of the labor market stand a fair chance of thriving at work and at home.

Some businesses will argue that increasing the predictability and stability of workers’ schedules will undermine profitability and success. But there is mounting evidence to show that predictable schedules and stable hours foster employee engagement and performance. So businesses could actually benefit from workweek standards.

And research we have conducted at a national retail firm suggests that the total number of worker hours used week-to-week doesn’t vary that much. It is just the schedules of the individual workers that do.

Just as workers scramble to accommodate fluctuations and modifications in their lives, managers must scramble to make and adjust schedules. Guaranteeing each employee a minimum number of hours would reduce chaos for both workers and their supervisors.

Employees who settle into a position are more likely to achieve long-term career goals, better position themselves financially, and gain marketable skills that appeal to future employers. All these factors provide sufficient reminders about the importance striving for J ob Stability!!!