Record Shattering Employee Turnover and The Need for ESP

A recent report by McKinsey revealed that more than 15 million US workers—and counting—have quit their jobs since April 2021, a record pace disrupting businesses everywhere. The unemployment rate is above the 50-year low of 3.5% in February 2020, and is expected to fall further in the coming months, thereby making it even harder for companies to fill job vacancies.

Companies are struggling to address the employee retention problem, and many will continue to struggle for one simple reason:?they don’t really understand why their employees are leaving in the first place.?

Rather than take the time to investigate the?true?causes of attrition, many companies are jumping to well-intentioned quick fixes that are missing the mark. For example, they’re bumping up pay or financial perks, like offering retention bonuses, and people are still quitting!

Others are simply accepting the standard line people give when resigning; “I’m?leaving for a better opportunity,” when instead, they should be asking,?“What prompted you to consider a better opportunity?”

The result? Tons of time and money is being thrown at a problem with little to show for it.

I’ve been where you are and get how time-consuming it can be to dig deeper when an employee leaves. And let’s face it. The chances of someone telling you the truth to your face is low. So, what are your options?

Well, you can take what exiting employees are saying at face value (how’s that been working out?) and continuously backfill position after position. Or you can commit to finding out exactly what’s going on so you can take steps to stop the churn. The choice is yours.

Before choosing, take pen to paper and calculate?the real cost of employee turnover, which I’ve written about extensively. Then decide if it’s worth investing in outside help to uncover the?real?reasons people are leaving your company.

The Need for ESP

I recently completed an engagement with a client who was experiencing a noticeable uptick in employee turnover. The “data” indicated people were leaving for better opportunities, which my client was?unwilling?to accept at face value.

My job was to find out the?actual?reason why people were quitting and to provide recommendations to prevent others from following suit. As I suspected, “a better opportunity” was not the reason why people were resigning. It was something completely different.?

My client now understands why their employees are leaving, and her organization is taking immediate steps to rectify the situation. Her efforts are paying off, as she is reporting a significant slowdown in employee resignations.

I’ve coined the process that I used to diagnose organizational churn, Matuson’s ESP? (Extra Stickiness Program), as I use my sixth sense to quickly assess the?root cause?of employee turnover to stop the hemorrhaging.?

The Future

Well, now that you know that I have this sixth sense, I have a prediction I’d like to share with you. We’re going to see employee turnover continue to rise, and by year-end, it will be even?more?difficult to fill jobs than it currently is.

I don’t want you to continue to be stressed out by unwanted turnover. I urge you to do whatever is necessary to figure out why why people are leaving your organization, so you can take immediate steps to rectify this situation.?

If you're ready to take action to dramatically improve your employee retention, schedule a call with me.

Here’s to you getting your life back and spending your days at work being productive again!