I’m out of here! That’s an expression I hear increasingly these days from those working in the corporate world. According to Mercer’s recent What’s Working global survey of nearly 30,000 people in 17 countries, between 28% and 56% of workers are seriously considering leaving their jobs, with younger workers even more likely to be considering a move.The Mercer study, echoing several Gallup polls in the past, shows that workers are increasingly less committed to their employers, which apparently has been exacerbated during the recession.
I can certainly understand why. The other day, I received an e-mail from a prospect telling me that of course they’d like to have an exceptional workplace. Who wouldn’t? But they don’t have time for this. Well, if you don’t have time for this, then what do you have time for? This is an organization that sells nothing but their reputation, as they are in the service industry. I’m sure their employees know exactly where they stand in the organization. I’m not naming names here because I don’t have evidence that the rest of the organization feels this way. But think about the damage one person with this attitude can do to an institution that relies heavily on their reputation.
Here are some more reasons why you should care about the results of this survey:
- I hate to be the one to break it to you, but many of these people reside in your organization. That means you will be spending countless hours looking for their replacements, training these people and apologizing to clients for all the mistakes that are being made in your organization, while you are dealing with this turnover.
- Leaders will be too busy processing paperwork to focus on strategic initiatives that will enable them to move the business forward.
- It won’t take long for word to get out that your organization isn’t really a place where people want to work. Then what will you do?
I could add ten more things to this list, but I won’t. Instead, I will make the assumption that if you care, you will take action.
You can begin by joining me on May 2, 2012 at the SHRM 2012 Talent Management Conference in Washington, DC, where I will be presenting Running of the Bulls: How to Keep Your Employees From Stampeding Out the Door.
Of course if you can’t wait until then, give me a call and we’ll get you back on track before the doors open.
