One-Foot-Out-The-Door Disease Is Bad for Employee Productivity

 Are you prepared to forestall an employee exodus when the economy warms? Companies who have adopted a mindset of employee engagement probably are, as a substantial side benefit to the day-to-day productivity gains they have already reaped using this commitment.

Because so many companies are not deeply committed to employee engagement, though, I expect a big game of musical chairs as employees seek greener pastures while the economy warms. HR professionals need to be laying in strategic plans now to forestall this costly exodus.

A recently available news item from Bloomberg summed this looming corporate retention issue up in a good headline:

"One in Three Workers Desires to Leave Their Job."

This article cites recent research done that confirms that employees are completely fed up with the demands firms have now been making during the economic grind of the last 36 months.Companies have now been cashing inside their human capital chips en masse by asking fewer people to complete more work, without splashing out on any additional support,bloomberg.com/ rewards or even simple recognitions. Most organizations view these heightened performance demands as "the brand new normal," but we bet that the resentment building will probably bite these companies pretty hard in the butt over the next 24 months!

"(Employees) feel less attached with the corporation emotionally and psychologically, and they do not necessarily think that the corporation they work for has their finest interests in mind," concluded the report cited by Bloomberg.

Invest some funds now on retention, or spend a bundle afterwards hiring.

Investing now in better quality, sustained engagement initiatives will surely cost less compared to the expensive recruitment battles most companies will endure as employees "switch buses and find new seats," to paraphrase Good to Great author Jim Collins.

I start to see the difference in commitment and retention whenever my clients wholeheartedly adopt the inclusive corporate mindset of engagement. Note I wrote "wholeheartedly adopt." Lip service or one-off training modules that don't reflect a sustained commitment will simply alienate employees, as many of us in the commercial have seen happen too many times.

For those firms that "have it" and walk their talk about employee engagement, great jumps in productivity happen, as much as 30% within my experience. Genuine efforts to engage and enable employees that validate their intelligence, and trust in their motivation to complete the most effective due to their employer, generally workout well.

Start now, or prepare yourself to pay even additional money on hiring over the next five years!

You will need a strategic plan that focuses on this coming problem. You wish to be the fortunate company that stays out from the expensive game of musical chairs that disgruntled employees will become playing when 30-40% of these head for the exits after the economy gets going again and.

Easy to state, difficult to do, right? The hardest part gets funds focused on the task. In a quarter-century to do human development, I have not seen the cash question harder than today. To meet up that challenge, listed below are steps to take:

 

• Put together a strong business case that produces clear the ROI of employee engagement to sell to senior executives.
• Cite most of the recent research that confirms its tangible competitive advantage.

• Do a cost-benefit analysison the gains of greater employee retention. Example: What can it cost to restore 20% of your workforce, even at similar compensation? What is the fee savings of reducing that to 10%?

• Compare the retention savings to the feeof a robust, sustained employee engagement program.

• Add another line item for the gains from the measurable productivity boost from current employees over the next 24 months (the biggest value of engagement initiatives, within our experience.) Use 10% to be conservative, although the 30% I referenced above is nearer to standard for a well-structured, sustained program.

• Start small, and at the top.Model the initiatives with senior executives first to gain their buy-in. They will not be the direct supply of productivity gains, but they should truly concur with the culture change and live it themselves for this to work.

• Grow steadily.Target middle managers, next, as they have the maximum potential for leaving when the economy improves, and may also have the maximum impact in cementing in the brand new culture and driving its adoption company-wide (and company-deep).

• Sustain the gains.Here is the critical way to success. You have to create a sustained program of engagement involving team building, coaching and mentoring to permit newly engaged employees to take their new mindset back for their workplace and utilize the tools every day. Do not fail them in this! The only result worse than not engaging is engagement poorly done.

 
If you should be a division leader, or HR professional, you understand the round of employee musical chairs is coming, and those who best prepare for that day have the most effective potential for benefiting as a result by keeping your very best people, and hiring the most effective from others. That is clearly a double win within my book!

 

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David Tighe has been helping his clients create fully engaged employee teams and more efficient leadership skills among executives and middle managers since 1987. He authored Bovo-Tighe's highly effective Foundation of Excellence approach to employee development, which includes been generating measurable ROI for clients by focusing relentlessly on upfront problem diagnosis and long-term sustainability with every client engagement. Bovo-Tighe also supplies a performance guarantee to back up their performance claims, a rarity in the employee development industry.
Discover more about Bovo-Tighe, its Foundation of Excellence approach and its performance guarantee at