Thinking Frog Corner: Employee Lifecycle

The employee life cycle is the stages of development of his relationship with the company. The life cycle of a specialist in an organization is natural: the stages of employee development are influenced not by business, but by psychological mechanisms. Therefore, the number of stages of the life cycle cannot be increased and swapped, just as it is impossible to live through old age first and then childhood.

Benefits of implementing an employee lifecycle strategy

By understanding where employees are in their lifecycle, you can:

· Work properly with newcomers so as not to reduce their motivation;

· Increase the period when a specialist can and wants to bring good results to the business;

· Retain employees and prevent an increase in turnover;

· Identify burned-out specialists who need urgent help;

· Clearly identify when it is time to part ways with an employee.

· What are the stages of an employee's life cycle

Every specialist goes through 4 stages of life cycle in a company:

1. Growth

2. Realization

3. Burnout

4. Stagnation

Stage 1: Growth

The essence of the stage. A newcomer comes to the company motivated to work. But until the employee gets used to the new processes, tasks and environment, he/she will not show high results, even if he/she has a midle or senior grading.

Risks. During the growth stage, an employee should receive clear tasks, have a strong mentor and feel comfortable in the workplace. If any of these things slip, a newcomer’s motivation will drop dramatically and there is a chance that he or she will leave the company during the probationary period.

What a company should do. It is important to create an effective onboarding system, which should include 3 elements:

· In-depth and quality training

· Social adaptation

· Psychological adaptation

Stage 2: implementation

The essence of the stage. The specialist has gained knowledge, adapted in the new environment and is reaching the peak of productivity, as motivation has not yet decreased. During this period, employees are happy to take on non-standard tasks and fulfill plans.

Risks. The implementation stage cannot last forever. Sooner or later a specialist’s motivation and productivity will start to drop, and he or she will approach burnout.

What a company should do. The realization stage is the period when the company can get the most out of a specialist, the main thing is to keep him motivated.

To do this, you can:

· Promote the specialist in the position with the transfer of managerial functions

· Expand the employee’s area of responsibility, for example, entrusting him to work with larger clients

· Give the specialist the role of a trainer or mentor for newcomers

Stage 3: burnout

The essence of the stage. A specialist gets tired of routine, does not get inspiration from familiar tasks, accumulates dissatisfaction with processes or relationships in the team. Because of this, the level of motivation drops.

Risks. If you do not notice in time that an employee is burned out, his toxicity can transfer to the whole team. Such specialists continue to perform tasks, but do it with negativity: they may not respond for a long time, show passive aggression, do not want to listen to feedback. Because of this, tension between employees builds up and conflicts appear.

What a company should do. It is important not to lose contact with employees who find themselves at this stage. It is necessary to figure out what the specialist lacks.

Often to overcome the decline in motivation helps to delegate new tasks related to the training of newcomers. You can organize events for employees where they will learn mentoring, and then offer to practice the knowledge in practice. This will expand their area of responsibility and help them switch from routine.

Stage 4: stagnation

The essence of the stage. The specialist’s motivation is at zero, so productivity starts to suffer. An employee may sabotage tasks, miss deadlines, do work poorly.

Risks. Any sabotage is fraught with consequences for business. The company can lose money, valuable customers and reputation.

What a company should do. Usually at the stagnation stage, the specialist is so immersed in burnout and negativity toward the work that it is almost impossible to bring him back to the realization stage.

Talk to the employee and ask how he sees his further development in the company. Usually the only option to retain a specialist is transfer to a new position with other tasks. If the employee doesn’t agree to such changes or you don’t have an open position, you should think about parting ways.

What are employee lifecycle metrics

Employee lifecycle indicators are indicators that help to identify the decline in motivation and productivity of a specialist.

There are 3 of them in total:

1. Engagement

2. Professionalism

3. Productivity

4. How to optimize the employee life cycle

There is no optimal length of the life cycle - for each specialist it is different and depends on 3 factors:

1. Stress level

The more often an employee faces stress, the sooner he or she will be at the stagnation stage. For example, call center specialists reach the last stage in 6-8 months, while an accountant may be at the implementation stage for several years.

2. Motivation level

The higher it is, the more effective and involved the specialist works, and therefore, he/she stays at the realization stage longer.

3. Frequency of changes in processes

Employees who have been working in the company for more than a year have a harder time tolerating change than newcomers. This can cause rapid transition to the stagnation stage and dismissal.

Typical mistakes companies make that shorten the employee lifecycle

· Not studying team motivators

Strong teams are usually made up of people with similar values and needs. Understanding what motivates employees helps not only to keep the team together, but also to hire more

suitable specialists. Then newcomers adapt faster and the rate of layoffs during the growth phase is reduced.

· Not researching the state and level of motivation of the team

If you don’t have the resource to study motivators for each department, limit yourself to five-minute manager’s meetings with each employee once a month. Even short conversations about status and needs help retain employees.

· Take no interest in experienced employees

Many companies believe that professionals who have been on the job for more than 3 years are going nowhere. In order for such an employee to benefit the business for as long as possible, you should regularly take the initiative and clarify whether everything is satisfactory.

· Set exaggerated goals

An impossible task more often demotivates than awakens excitement. Even at the peak of productivity, a specialist gets tired of the continuous flow of complex tasks. Therefore, keep an eye on KPIs – it is important that they are ambitious but achievable.

The employee life cycle is an important aspect of HR management that requires careful attention at every stage. Effective management of this process helps not only to improve the company’s performance, but also to create a healthy corporate culture that promotes the development of all participants.