A Bad Mingled Wryness on A Tuesday….  SHOCKING…

Retention in 2008

So, the new report is out from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  The Tenure in 2008 report shows the changes in national employee retention from the previous report published by the Gov. in 2006.  If you don’t already subscribe to the BLS reports, do so.  You already pay for it…

Anyways…

The average employee (16+) works for their organization 4.1 years, an insignificant increase of .1 year from the 2006 and 2004 average of 4.0 years.   “Food Services and Drinking Places” employees stay the shortest amount of time, 1.6 years, while Federal Government enjoy tenure 2 1/2 times longer than the average worker at 9.9 years.  Do these federal employees stay because they want to, or stay because they have to?

College graduates 25-34 years of age stay an average of 2.7 years, those with a PhD. stay just 2 years.

Nearly a third of employees 20 years of age and older have been with their organization less than 2 years, half have been with their company 4 years or less.

Less than 1/3 of all employees have been with their organization 10 years or more.

Nasty Stuff…  Do you know what the average length of tenure is in your organization?  And, do you know what it costs to replace labor?  If you aren’t saying “yes” to both those questions, consider it your homework assignment for October.

He Who Has the Gold Makes the Rules

A 2008 survey by TalentKeepers, Inc. found that eight in ten American business executives consider employee retention a top priority — a staggering jump from the 41 percent in 2007. Smart compensation structures can provide “gold” that encourages long-term loyalty (hence the term golden handcuff).  The author of the article stated that “golden handcuffs” reflect the premise “you remain, you gain; you leave, you lose”.

With a definition like that, both sides have already lost.

C’mon folks.  Isn’t it about time we all understand that you can buy retention, but you can’t buy engagement? 

According to the 2008-09 Employee Engagement National Workforce Engagement Benchmark, Fully Engaged employees are:

• nearly twice as likely to go the extra mile for customers than Unengaged workers
• three times more likely to be highly motivated to work hard
• nine times more likely to provide enthusiastic referrals for the company

And yes, Fully Engaged employees are three times more likely to stay for the next two years vs. Unengaged workers.

Employees stay because they are engaged, not the other way around.  There is no chicken and egg question here.

A Prescription for Failure

In Kansas, the supply of nurses is expected to decline more than 2% percent by 2020, while demand rises by 25 percent. During the same period in Missouri, the supply is projected to drop by 6% while demand increases by 24%.

“Although we didn’t coin the phrase, we describe the situation as a perfect storm,” said Susan Lacey, director of nursing work force and systems analysis at a local hospital.

Add to this:  One in eight nurses leaves the profession each year.  Enrollment is dropping in many nursing schools.   Nearly one in ten registered nursing positions in local hospitals remain unfilled.

Enough to make you sick, huh?

Doing the Right Thing Because it Works

A study of 24,000 business units in 125 worldwide companies showed that compared to unengaged workgroups, engaged workgroups are:

• 62% less likely to be injured on the job
• 51% less likely to leave a low turnover company
• 51% less likely to steal
• 31% less likely to leave a high turnover company
• 18% more productive
• 12% better at engaging customers
• 12% more profitable

Duh.

This engagement stuff works.  Call me.  I’ll explain it to ya.