We recently wrote about why job hopping may not be a bad thing, but an advantage for both job seekers and employers. Today we will focus on why people tend to change jobs more often, and how you can make them stay at your company.
"In the Silicon Valley where I work, moving between firms (jumping or hopping) is seen by managers as a positive thing, because it gives an individual a chance to learn in a variety of environments... Unfortunately, I find that HR professionals in the rest of the world are among the strongest resistors when it comes to hiring job jumpers," writes John Sullivan in the second part of his article on the topic of job hopping on TLNT.com.
He stresses that top talents and experts are the employees who change jobs most frequently, because they have a lot of job offers and can afford it. "In most cases that I have researched, job jumpers actually wanted to stay but they couldn’t, because their managers or HR lacked the courage to match the learning and growth opportunities that were readily available at firms … across the street," says John Sullivan.
Why do the best employees leave?
- The economic crisis forced many professionals to change jobs more often than they would have liked.
- Finding a new job is much easier than before thanks to the internet.
- Today's experts do not even have to actively look for jobs. Recruiters will find them themselves via social networks and referrals.
- The improving economic situation gives the possibility of changing jobs to those who have stayed despite their dissatisfaction.
- Technicians naturally want join companies working with the latest technologies.
How can you keep the professionals who are most in demand in the market?
1. Do not assume job hoppers are a priori interested in leaving quickly
The experts who have changed employers several times in a relatively short period of time already have a clear idea of the manager and company they want to work for. Give them what they want and they will stay longer.
2. Be proactive
Ensure that your staff have good managers who are aware of what motivates them and focus on these motivators. It is also important to find out what your best people do not like so that you can fix it. Strengthen feedback and ask them what you can do to make them stay.
3. Try to use even short term stays of experts as much as possible
Even if your experts are still very likely to leave you soon, try to learn as much as possible from them. Assign them interesting projects to apply their knowledge and skills and ensure they will pass their know how on other colleagues. The fact is that no worker will stay forever.
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