Sometimes employers cheer when an employee resigns, but many times organizations lose good people due to a variety of reasons.
Some are unavoidable – like spouse relocation.
More often, the resignation is due to controllable factors such as lack of appreciation, general poor management, lack of opportunity or pay below market.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the national unemployment rate in June stood at 4.0 percent compared to a high of 10 percent in October 2009. Virginia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 3.2 percent in May.
In January 2017, then Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen sounded the alarm that a 4.7 percent rate could spark full employment, causing inflation. “Full employment” is an economic situation wherein all available labor resources are being used in the most efficient way.
What this means to employers is that your employees have options – and lots of them.
Most employees, regardless of how happy they are, will keep their options open. With the explosion of social media and technology, recruiters are able to reach out to the currently employed to share available opportunities.
According to a series of recent studies, about 71 percent of employees currently are looking for a job, or being open to a new opportunity.
While many cite being underpaid as the motivation, the majority also say lack of appreciation and professional development as key reasons.
Going into a variety of organizations I see employees who work hard – really hard – for their employer. The best employees come to work every day and do their jobs – and no one notices. Many feel alone and undervalued.
Sometimes I meet people who have worked for an organization 35 or more years. These are loyal workers who are blindly committed to the organization.
These long-term committed employees are not today’s workforce.
The 2018 workforce doesn’t have the loyalty pull of a sizeable pension on the back end to reward long-term commitment. There is nothing financially tying an employee to an organization in the long-term. This means all bets are off – and organizations must consistently re-recruit its top talent.
As difficult as it will be to lose someone, it will be equally difficult to find a replacement in this market. There are more jobs than experienced talent in many skilled industries to fill those roles.
Managers should evaluate their talent, consider what drives each person, and individualize a success plan for each person. This should include specific efforts for professional development, expression of value and appreciation, expansion roles, and compensation.
It will cost significantly more to hire someone new into a role than to invest in the employees you have now.
Think outside the box to include flexible work schedules and telework. Some employees value working 4 10-hour days or early arrival and departure. Try to find the win/win as these are intangibles other employers may not offer.
A poor strategy is waiting for employees to resign and then offering them a better deal. This can create a pay equity issue, and just encourages employees to seek better opportunities. Once they start looking and commit to something elsewhere, it’s very difficult to get them to stay.
As an at-will state, an employee who is not under contract can resign for any reason at any time, just as the employer can terminate an employee.
Now is a good time to review the employer’s policies on resignations, including whether employees are paid out vacation and the notice required.
If the employer policy states that two weeks’ notice is required, an employer should pay an employee through his or her notice period if the employer does not want the employee to work through the notice.
Some employers write policies that expect 30 days notice for resignations. This is highly discouraged as 30 days is a long time for an employee to work, and most employers don’t want to keep someone around that long.
It is exciting to be in a strong economic environment, but this is generally new territory for many managers, so step back and develop plans for retaining your talent.