Let’s talk about retention. Times at work get tough and stressful, yet people still stay at their jobs. Why do you think that is? I’m sure you remember the times where the stress at work was enough to drive you out the door. …When customers were upset, you were missing ready dates, quality control issues had you doubting that you could do anything right, and the vendor you were counting on disappointed you yet again. You were done! You didn’t need this type of stress! You could just leave, walk away from all this, and take a new, less stressful job. …So why didn’t you?
My guess is that you didn’t stay for the good of the company. You stayed to support your friends and coworkers at the job. You were not going to just abandon them in this time of need, and make the frustrations even more stressful with your absence. Because you had built a relationship with them, you hung in there, fought through the hardship together, and celebrated with them when you all broke through. It is not the connection to the JOB, but the connection to your COWORKERS that kept you there, fighting for a better day. …Does that sound familiar?
So employers, what do you think that means for the focus of our onboarding and team building efforts? Oftentimes employers hesitate to spend time and money on mentoring and team building activities because they can’t see the direct ROI for those efforts. The employers who DO… do so at their own risk. But here are the stats:
- There are currently 7.4 million job openings in the US today.
- Demographics show us that we are in the process of being 6.5 to 8 million people short in the workforce.
- There are full time recruiters and staffing agencies whose ability to pay their own mortgages and put food on the table for their families is based on their ability to get YOUR good people to LEAVE you.
- SHRM says it costs 38% of an employee’s salary to lose, replace and retrain a new recruit.
…Still think creating connection and team morale in your workforce is hard to justify?
If you are looking for insight or specific action steps to grow a process within your organization to Win the War for Talent, please reach out. It’s my passion to help companies solve their talent issues, whether that is finding the right talent or retaining and developing that talent. With the right processes in place, your organization can grow and thrive even more!
