Last week The Wall Street Journal reported that more people are quitting their jobs than being laid off for the first time in 15 consecutive months. Recent UK figures paint a similar picture.
The WSJ article reckons there’s two reasons:
First, there’s a glut of people who have sat out the recession in the relative safety of their current jobs, when they’d normally have been progressing their careers elsewhere.
Second, many people who have taken the brunt of tough cost-cutting initiatives, are now looking to greener pastures as a way both of voting with their feet, and moving on in their own lives.
No problems with any of that.
But, in tandem, I heard on my own grapevine last week that there’s been a sudden increase in the number of new Employee Engagement jobs in London. A quick look at those advertised online confirms that most of them are about trying to get some enthusiasm back into weary workforces.
As someone who has coached and consulted with some of the most successful companies in the world, I have to say that this seems to be a case of closing the gate after the horse has bolted.
Employers need to get the message that they can’t treat people badly and expect them to keep smiling
We’re not living in the early 20th Century any more. The world and society has shifted hugely since the first mechanistic concepts of people management were developed. People see themselves as having more choice. There’s a lot more consciousness in the system and people will exercise it to their own advantage.
Old paternalistic, command and control cultures are breaking down. People want to be treated as adults these days. They don’t want to be treated as recalcitrant children: lavished in good times; punished in bad. They want their personal power to be respected and valued.
If you manage staff, you can’t talk to them one day about how important it is for you to engage them, hearts and minds, next day unilaterally impose swingeing cuts, and not expect them to be angry about your breach of trust. These days they smell your spin at fifty feet.
Employers need to understand that damaging their workforces, means damaging their brand
I’m an advocate for the well being of people at work, whatever work they do. Work is more than just a cog in the economic machine. It’s a vital aspect of giving each of us a sense of purpose and direction in life. Businesses have a wonderful opportunity to engage talented, purposeful people, support them to thrive – and see their businesses thrive too.
Instead many – too many – continue to see their people mechanistically. Even if they’ve thought about “Employee Engagement” it gets managed as an initiative, rather than a living, breathing, vital part of business. It’s pumped out through town hall meetings and emails. The importance of the human, energetic relationship between managers and their staff gets missed.
Employers forget that their people have voices. That they talk to their friends about their experiences. That they write about them on social media sites. Hence others build a picture of what constitutes a “good” or “bad” employer in much the same way as they build a picture of a consumer brand.
Employers need to count the costs in both people and financial terms
They appear to be blind to the fact that there’s a wave of what they call “talent” streaming away from their organisations. That, indeed, many talented individuals are waving two fingers to the corporate world because they’ve had enough psychopathy to last them a life time.
This is not just a phenomenon fuelled by recession. As the Conference Board reported in January, Job Satisfaction Statistics have been trending downwards for 22 years.
But there’s a financial impact of all of this too.
Joe Light across at WSJ made a good guess at the financial cost of the turnover we’re starting to see as the job market eases off. He estimates that, at more senior levels, the bill is around 50% of each new person’s salary.
That’s not including the costs of paying for interim or consulting staff to cover key vacancies. Or the incremental recruitment costs from the bad will you inflict on putting extra stress on an already pressurised work team.
If you’re in the highly privileged position to be able to have people work for you, you might like to consider what that means going forward. You might like to connect with the reality that people have lives, that they have souls, that they care. That if you dare to provide the right kind of environment, they will bring these beautiful, human qualities to the benefit of your business.
My belief is that if employers adopt this kind of thinking, the rewards will speak for themselves. What do you think?
Related posts:
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Jim Connolly, Ken, Christine Livingston, Life Force Training, Jen Smith and others. Jen Smith said: RT @coblyn Latest on the blog: What Employers Need To Know Now: http://bit.ly/bfERcU [...]
Twitter: JulieWalraven
Seeing the same trend with my client base, Christine. Clients who were afraid to move, now are. I have heard the same phrase from two of my management and executive level clients. It is now time to invest in me. They are positioning themselves for the next move, making sure their voice is right for the interview, and demonstrating their value on LinkedIn as never before.
Employers need to recognize the trend you so clearly pointed out and make staying the investment their employees choose by perhaps promoting those with the right talents or reinforcing their accomplishments and of course, rewarding them with pay raises.
.-= Julie Walraven | Resume Services´s last blog ..Does the Image Matter? =-.
Fascinating, supportive data, Julie.
I find that often in times of trouble, employers make the mistake of thinking their best people need least attention. Attention if it goes anywhere goes instead to the grumblers. Employers need to recognise that, even if they can’t reward their best people due to cost restraints etc, they need to spend time talking to them and making them feel wanted and important. It’s that that people are looking for now – the interest of new employers who are prepared to see their value.
Glad to know that people are investing in your services. Crucial support at this kind of time!
Twitter: remarkablogger
Very interesting! I wasn’t mistreated at my previous job (far from it!) but I just wanted something better for myself and that’s why I left to do full time blog consulting on my own.
.-= Michael Martine´s last blog ..Open Discussion: How do You Handle Competition? =-.
I’m happy to hear it, Michael. There are exceptions to the rule. IBM, for example, have been doing some awesome work around their contracts of employment, allowing people to work the hours etc that work for them, when they work for them. Other businesses need to follow their lead.
Twitter: eduardsays
“Employers need to get the message that they can’t treat people badly and expect them to keep smiling”
I’m surprised to see many top corporations and employers ignore this very powerful idea. They have policies by which they try to squeeze as much as they can from an employee, and they wonder why the retention rate is low. Then the think that a teambuilding id the solution.
Eduard, your last sentence made me giggle : “they think a teambuilding is the solution”. So true! Like some game playing can make it all better.
Sure, if you want to have a for real conversation, and really make things different. Otherwise, it’s a waste of everyone’s time and money.
Luckily I’ve had really nice employers in the main but I definately experienced what you decsribed here too. I know it’s hard sometimes for companies to engage employees in a meaningful and natural way but this is such a vital thing… people always end up voting with their feet. It is sad but many companies seem to treat their employees worst in a recession, as if they know there is nowhere else for them to go. But there is, always, and even if it takes time, people will put their loyalties else where.
Thanks for being here, Jen.
I know from what you’ve said before that you’ve had good employers. Wonderful! But what you say is right. People are getting more and more switched on to their own development, and finding ways to put their loyalties in places and activities that are elsewhere.
Twitter: jblack2012
I say that it’s time to re-start the small business movement. When a person starts their own business, they end up with ownership and responsibility for something bigger than them.
When that same person is just working for someone else, they lose that level of ownership and become disenchanted with what they are doing… of course it’s critical for the employer to treat them well too.
-Joshua Black
The Underdog Millionaire
.-= Joshua Black | The Underdog Millionaire´s last blog ..Copywriting Critique of the World’s Worst Salesman =-.
That’s a really interesting perspective, Joshua. I do think that, as companies get bigger, their sense of individual, community, and even environmental responsibility diminishes. Look at the current BP example. Sadly, it’s not the first of its kind. I also think it’s easier to be on automatic pilot in a big company than a small. Certainly my own experience is that working for yourself keeps you sharper and on your toes – you have to set your own experience and there’s no blaming the employer, since that employer happens to be you!!