SubstackCasey Jakubowski, PhD on SubstackEntire sectors are crashing, as unemployment claims now rival the Great Depression. So why, in all that is socially distance writing about turnover? Before the economy crashed, economists were telling leaders that the labor market was too tight. In some places, wages were rising quicker than employers were willing to spend. Yet in other reports, businesses had Billions of dollars in reserves. So, employees were leaving their employers and looking for a new place. Many times, an employee will not parachute out of an organization. Quite honestly, they were pushed.Like many of you out there, I have no desire to fly, or to leave a safe plane and jump. Some people, however, have had enough, and they love the thrill of the ride. Or, the conditions were so bad, they jumped from a sinking ship. Understanding employee turnover is expensive is point one. As a company, recruiting, training, and then replacing an employee is expensive. Estimates range from 50% to 250% of an employee's salary. As a business person, you might as well buy toilet paper with all that wasted cash (oh, wait, now TP is a good investment!)To "win at business" you need to keep more of that recruitment budget for other uses.The second reason employees leave is the climate/culture of an organization. Workers are humans, and humans do not like poor situations. In the back of our brains lives this really old system of the three "f"s: Fight, Flight,Freeze. In a danger situation activated by a woolly mammoth, survival depends on running away, or hurting, or hiding until the danger is no more. We do not fight big things anymore. We have stresses created by situations where our control or our ability to take control is dependent on our boss, or client, or team member. While Rufus (a made up name) doesn't have a pointy tusk, cc'ing the entire team and your boss on an e-mail which reveals a mistake is the modern day trumpet and charge. A toxic culture drives more employees out then salary or benefits concerns. The more we understand that climate and culture come from the top "the big boss" the more we can grapple with point three: most people leave because of a bad boss. When people do not feel their work matters, or their time is valuable, or that they see a future at an organization, they check out. Mentally, physically or emotionally, the person, or one of the most expensive investments and valued resources of your organization has started to leave. Becoming a supportive leader is a skill you can learn. Training,education, and coaching becomes a critical trifecta of advancing your abilities. Then, you can keep more people happy, engaged, productive, and off the job sites and networking pages.If you want to know more, or schedule a 15 minute phone call, please do not hesitate to contact me:casey.t.jakubowski@gmail.comfrom okay to Outstandingdon't think outside of the box, burn the box
