A recent global survey by recruiting experts Hays revealed three-quarters of workers are planning to find a new job this year. Hays CEO, Alistair Cox, explores the reasons employees chose to leave and how organisations can improve their retention plans to hold onto much needed talent.
The idea of a job for life is a thing of the past, as life expectancy continues to increase, and people are expected to work longer, it is only natural that they seek variety in their work. As a result, employers must anticipate and plan for the changed long-term career plans of their employees.
Hays surveyed 4,500 people from over 100 countries/regions, with 78% of respondents revealing they intend to find a new job in 2019. Alistair shared insights as to why employees were making the decision to leave their current place of work, these included remote workers feeling increasingly disconnected from their workplace and employees seeking more flexibility in their working hours. Other reasons may include burnout, finding no meaning to their job or simply falling out of love with their place of work.
Alistair states employers cannot carry on ignoring the changing career needs of their employees if they wish to retain their key talent. Alistair says; “There are key changes that you as a business should start thinking about now, to help limit the risk of losing your top people in the future. After all, if you don’t give your people what they need to function well in the evolving world of work, quite frankly, they’ll find another company that does.”
Alistair sets out advice to businesses on how they can boost their retention levels, including supporting employee’s personal passions, building flexibility into contracts and in turn promoting the options available to employees internally, and lastly, by encouraging internal mobility to allow employees to move between different teams and roles within the organisation.
However, Alistair states that despite organisations best efforts some employees will still chose to quit in some situations, “In reality, there’s often only so much an employer can do to keep hold of its top talent. The decision to leave an organisation is a deeply personal one and often their reasons for leaving are unique to them. So, the fact remains – no matter how many new working practices we put in place, people will still leave our businesses.”
If an organisation is unable to convince an employee to stay, then it is the responsibility of the employer to ensure that the exit process goes smoothly, and ensure they are able to find a suitable replacement as soon as possible.
Alistair notes that when a person leaves a company it can sometimes be swept under the carpet in order to not attract too much attention and an employer can disengage from the situation, however Alistair says this would be a mistake. Alistair says, “Remember, this is a time of transition, particularly for the remaining members of your team, so it’s important you manage the exit process well – put as much effort into saying goodbye to an employee, as you would when welcoming a new employee into your business.”
Alistair advises that organisations must ensure they are having conversations with their employees about their career paths and ambitions, as well as exploring other opportunities – even if they are outside of their current place of work. This will allow businesses to manage the situation and plan for any employees who are intending to leave in the near future.
Alistair advises; “People will leave our businesses at some stage, that’s pretty much a given, but if we are upfront and open in the way we approach career development conversations from the outset, we will, a. signal that we are invested in their career development, and b. be far better equipped to understand their individual motivations and ambitions.”
Part of this content originally appeared as a LinkedIn Influencer blog.
Source: Hays
