A survey of CEO Challenges and Issues was recently released by Inside Indiana.  The outcomes weren’t all that surprising, I’m used to leaders of organizations Talking the Talk.  For example:

• The CEO’s rated Corporate Reputation and Customer Loyalty and Retention as the most important to their company.  Employee Retention and Recruitment came in sixth, tied with Health Care Costs.  

Like I said, I am used to CEO’s talking the talk.  It’s the walkin’ part I’m not always so sure about.  And employees know the same thing.  Why else would more than six in ten employees not believe their senior leaders see employees as their most important asset?  BRAIN DRAIN OR LOST BOSS?

• The CEO’s indicated they were most likely to persue ”Adding Jobs” over the next 18 months, vs. Succession planning, looking for new sources of financing, outsourcing jobs, or looking at Mergers and Acquisitions.  

Interesting.  With an average of one employee voluntarily quitting their job every second of every hour of every day, you would think CEO’s would have their hands full just replacing the workers they lose, let alone those they fire.  Adding jobs doesn’t do any good unless you add a person to fill it.  Duh.  HOLD IT… HOLD IT….  How can “adding jobs” be the most likely avenue these CEO’s will pursue, but it only shows up sixth as “most important”?  It’s that kind of CEO logic that brings companies an average 35% annual turnover.  BRAIN DRAIN OR LOST BOSS?

• The CEO’s rated “Human Resources” as the fifth most challenging issue faced by their company, behind Having Enough Time, Rising Customer Expectations, Keeping Up With Technology, and Customer Retention and Loyalty.   

Hmmm.  Listen to your employees, they’ll tell you the real story.  Back in 2004, less than half of all employees believe their company hired employees who hit the ground running.  The number didn’t change in 2006.  Only four in ten employees agreed the organization does a good job hiring the right people.  Hope the CEO’s are getting feedback from their stakeholders on the first four…  BRAIN DRAIN OR LOST BOSS?

• One of the most interesting questions was the following:  Thinking of the labor pool available to your company, please indicate how strong you believe the following work ethics are in the labor pool. (Hard Working, Enthusiasm, Loyalty, Motivation, Ambition).  The CEO’s were “slightly positive” in their assessments as to the strengths of these “work ethics”.   

OMG.  Let me get this right.   First, local CEO’s don’t seem to have much confidence in their labor pool here in Indiana.  I wonder how much is the chicken, and how much is the egg.  Do employees start a job with a sense of enthusiasm and excitement, only to have their organization squash that excitement like a bug through abhorrent HR practices?  Do employees have ambition to move up or to move over in the organization, but wind up “moving out” because the company won’t train and develop them?

Lets get this straight.  Most employees will exhibit all five of these “behaviors” when they first begin a new job.  They are excited to be in the organization, delighted to be meeting new people and learning new things, and plan to give a hard day’s work for a fair day’s pay. 

This isn’t all about whether the workforce has the proper attitudes to be good employees. It isn’t whether the labor supply is large enough or well educated enough to succeed in Indiana businesses. It’s about the human resource policies and practices the organization uses to recruit, retrain, reward, and retain employees. If the majority of employees start their job excited to be there, but after a year only four in ten are engaged with their organization, is it the fault of the employee, or the fault of the employer.

We don’t have a brain drain problem in Indiana.  We have a lost boss problem.  Welcome to the club.