With unemployment in Australia at its highest since October 2003, organisations could be forgiven for thinking that Employee Retention is off the strategic agenda. A far cry from the talent crisis 18 months ago, high staff turnover facilitated unengaged and unproductive employees (and their employers) the opportunity to leave, decreasing overall retention but increasing employee engagement as old employees are replaced with enthusiasm and energy.Whilst a slowdown in employee turnover, as being seen in the current environment, would be favourable in terms of KPI’s and subsequent cost to business, the hidden cost of higher staff retention is realised with a decrease in the rate at which unengaged staff are rotating out of the business. As these types of employees have fewer opportunities to move on, the level of employee engagement is subjected to increased pressure. How much are these delayed departures costing your business?
This tight labour market will not last forever and when the market starts to loosen, there will be 3 different types of candidates:
· Employees who had already made a decision to leave prior to the job shortage and have been trapped in your organisation since the market tightened,
· Employees who were forced into the job market via desperation or redundancy and have accepted any role in order to secure employment; and
· Employees who have made a decision to leave over the past 12 months and are waiting untill the market picks up to make their next career move.
The result- all three types of employees have disconnected from the business and checked out, at least in some capacity, emotionally as they hang out in the departure lounge waiting for the weather to clear for flight clearance. How many seats are taken in your departure lounge?
Actively monitoring employee engagement and managing those low performers will minimise the cost to your business in the short term and facilitate planning for the future. It will also help you identify and secure those high performers who may be vulnerable to an alluring market place. It is retention of the right people that counts!
