Today’s post is the featured article from the October 2003 issue of The Front Porch Newsletter. If you would like to automatically receive The Front Porch e-newsletter on the last Thursday of each month just click here to sign-up for your complimentary subscription.
A recent survey noted that when the economy kicks back into gear that 1/6 of all employees indicate they plan to make a job change. That should be enough to make any management team or HR Director take pause. In most any organization, that attrition would cause significant disruption, especially when those departing are your very best. Ready or not — the recovery is coming! It is not a matter of IF, it is a matter of WHEN. And the time to get ready is not when Wall Street or Alan Greenspan tells us it is here. By then it will be too late! Through the late 90’s we heard so much about the lack of (and the importance of) employee loyalty. No matter how much you do for your employees, it is hard to build loyalty, with any credibility, when there is a “war-for-talent” in play. We saw this throughout the late 90’s. Most organizations were embracing innovative employee benefits and flex programs. Today, in the midst of our struggling and uncertain economy, many of these programs have withered on the vine. Their perceived return on investment diminished as attrition opportunities plummeted with the Dow. Smart move, if you are short-term addicted. Bad move if you want to be Recovery-Ready! If there was ever a time to build employee loyalty, it is NOW. It will be cheaper and certainly more genuine. The bottom line is that we can’t help but notice when others do things for us — when they DON’T have to do it. This is one of those windows of times. Don’t miss this opportunity!
Action Point: Create a Recovery-Ready Team and start brainstorming on exactly what your plans will be when your employees are flooded with new opportunities. It doesn’t cost you a dime to build the strategy, but could cost you millions if you don’t.