The Link Between Employee Turnover and The Blame Game
Roberta Matuson
Strategic Advisor on Talent | Global Executive Coach | Public Speaker I Brand Ambassador | HBR Contributor I Helping organizations attract & retain the best people.
Lately people have been talking about the increase in employee turnover in their organizations. Here are their responses when asked why they believe this is so. We call this the Blame Game.
1. It was simply a bad batch of new hires
If only this were true. Could it be possible that something has changed in your organization? Have the needs of the organization changed but the hiring profile has stayed the same? Have you stopped holding managers accountable for their hiring decisions? Are you failing to provide interviewing training for newly promoted or hired managers?
2. The employees we hired were the best of the bunch
If that is truly the case, it's time to begin thinking about ways to increase applicant flow so you have more choices. There are a number of things that can be done regardless of budget. The solution may be as simple as asking your employees for referrals. Or perhaps your needs may require a more strategic approach.
3. If they stay for a year we will have gotten our money's worth
Would your stakeholders agree if they knew how much the company is losing whenever an employee walks out the door? Begin by quantifying the cost of replacing an employee when someone leaves your organization. Do you still believe you have gotten your money's worth?
4. This is the best we can hire given our pay ranges
Granted, money is usually not the main reason employees leave their jobs. However, let's be real. People want to be adequately compensated for their efforts. If employees are continually leaving your firm for more money, then it's time to look at reallocating resources. You can probably survive if you don't replace the three-year old copy machine in the mail room with a model that costs significantly more. Take the money saved and reallocate it to your merit budget.
5. These are only entry-level positions, so who cares?
Your customers care, so maybe you should as well. Companies spare no expenses when it comes to hiring their executives, yet so little is invested when hiring frontline people like cashiers, bank tellers, and receptionists. Clients communicate with these people more often than with the CFO. In many cases, these employees are the only people customers interact with. Perhaps it's time to rethink your position on the hiring of entry-level personnel.
6. Our turnover has always been high
Congratulations for maintaining your position. Maybe it's time to give someone else an opportunity to take home the award for high turnover. Right now you've got a bunch of employees in your organization who are thinking about leaving. If you want to keep these people, you must find the root causes of their dissatisfaction. The best way to do so is to ask employees why they are considering leaving. Retention surveys are a great way to quickly gather this information. It's no secret that employees will respond more honestly when this is done by an outside firm, so don't even think about attempting this on your own.
7. Even though employee turnover at our company is 40% we are still below the industry average
Would you be so accepting if this year's revenues were down by 40%, even if it were a little better than the industry average? Of course not. You'd be bringing in teams of people to get you out of this tailspin. You can begin to pull yourself away from the pack by paying attention to factors, like employee fit and well-trained managers, which are key contributors to employee retention. Don't know how to approach this? Call in an expert.
8. If it doesn't work out, we can always replace these people
Yes, but at what cost? Will your most valued clients hang around while you replace their main contact person for the third time this year? Do you have the resources to source for new candidates or have these people left as well? Consistency is key for most organizations and it's impossible to retain if your workforce is in a constant state of change.
9. We don't have the staff to address this issue right now
You cannot afford to wait. You don't have to go this alone. Bring in an expert who can design a strategy and implement a program that will help you prevent this situation from happening time and time again.
10. It's no big deal
If this were not a big deal, you wouldn't have finished reading this article. This problem can be fixed if you are open to making changes. What do you have to lose? It's easy to place blame for employee turnover on all of these factors. However, this approach doesn't position you well to win the game on customer satisfaction, employee retention, and increased profitability. It's your move.
? Matuson Consulting, 2017. All Rights Reserved.
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There are a ton of other ways you can protect your talent. I’m sharing these ideas with a select group of companies, who are engaging me to come on site and facilitate a three-hour jam packed discussion. I’m also going to teach participants how to effortlessly poach talent. I’ve got a few dates left for March and April. Email me at [email protected], to have me bring this session to your organization, while you still have talent to keep.
Experience in the automotive business and a degree in journalism
2 年With no disrespect to anyone, good employees are hard to find and difficult to replace. Also, managers need to be held accountable for their behavior, especially if good employees are leaving. The phrase “employees leave a bad boss” has truth to it, and I say this with no disrespect to anyone.
While it is true that the blame game is destructive it is also true that in order to address underlying issues where the error occurred must be identified so that processes can be modified to prevent recurrence. It is important that everyone is aware of the fact that the fault finding is not punitive in nature but to address possible process issues. Finally I see over and over in here that turnover is in and of itself a bad thing. There are appropriate times for team member to leave due to lack of motivation, detail and or just not having an interest in the work.
Proven Operations Leadership
8 年Too many times I've participated in exit interviews and have found a strong correlation between an employees experience with more senior management declining to accept the responsibility for an action or less than favorable result that they created, opting instead to pass the buck down the chain. This demonstration of a lack of integrity sours not just the perception of a 'boss' but impacts the impression of the management team at large. That makes it easy to leave for another opportunity. I think this is also a factor at play as I see more and more managers electing to play 'defense," to ensure their jobs are secure. "A" players hire "A" players, "B" players hire "C" players. Over time this will have a sever impact on an organizations creativeness and competitiveness.
Regulatory and Compliance Supervisor at UPS
8 年I think the phrase that "employees quit their bosses not the company" can be a cliche that HR managers tell their supervisor in an attempt to play the blame game for not being able to control their turn-over ratios. In many instances the real reason why employees are quitting and actively looking for other jobs is because the big urge of companies to cut labor costs. I have worked at both the the restaurant and retail industries and have seen that one of the big culprits for employees leaving is their cutthroat attempt to manage their labor. They slash employee hours as much as the can trying to squeeze as much work as humanly possible with less payroll hours. The results, are people leaving for another job that could provide with a better way to earn a leaving. What it means for these companies is losing talented people, causing them to act on desperate hiring practices, and leaving them in a position to offer inadequate training for new employees.
Senior Technical Director - Temporary at Exelixis
8 年People don't usually quit companies, they quit their bosses.