Stop Losing Your “Memory”
Have you considered what happens when you lose an employee, particularly one who has been with your organization for an extended period of time? The answer is quite simple – a piece (perhaps a vital piece) of your institutional knowledge (memory) leaves with the employee. Afterall, your former employee has knowledge about how things are done, where items are stored, little facts and figures, and other information that perhaps no one else in the company knows. There is a mountain of data on the computers employees use and you may assume that because vital information is on computers, you can find it when needed. But because of the intricate system of layered folders, maybe only the person who organized the files on a particular computer knows where to find the data you seek and that person just walked out your door.
When that happens, your organization has, in effect, lost some of its memory.
A recent study reported that upwards of fifty percent of a company’s digital data is generally inaccessible because it is stored as personal files on personal computers. That’s like saying a business could lose fifty percent of its memory due to employee turnover and that’s a scary thought.
While there is some turnover you can’t prevent, it’s generally believed that the majority of employee turnover is avoidable. Ask yourself these questions about your people:
- Who is most likely to look for outside opportunities?
- Who finds it easiest to get a different job?
- Who would I miss most if they quit?
- Whose loss would hurt me most in our competitive field?
- Who is my competition trying to recruit?
Chances are the answer to each of these questions is the same: “Your best people.”
Therefore, it makes sense for you as a leader in your organization to examine the conditions in your organizations that cause people to leave. Unwanted turnover is generally caused by four things:
- Hiring people who are unsuited for long-term employment. To perform a job successfully, an individual’s cognitive ability, behavioral traits, and motivational interests need to closely match the job for which they were hired. When someone doesn’t “fit” their job, their productivity and engagement suffer and the likelihood of them leaving increases.
- Poor managerial fit. Often, people don’t leave their jobs, they leave managers who fail to support them or whose personalities don’t mesh with their employees. When the personality traits of managers and those they manage differ, quite often it’s the employee who leaves.
- Poor team fit. To consistently perform at the highest levels, organizations need everyone on the team to pull their weight and contribute to a larger vision. When this fails to occur, the team may struggle and some members may choose to leave.
- Lack of development or career opportunities. When an organization does a poor job of onboarding, coaching, and nurturing the success of their employees or they fail to provide talented employees with opportunities for development and career mobility, those employees often leave.
Bottom line – It’s critical that organizations examine their hiring and development processes and find those areas where improvements are required. Bad hires are preventable. Avoiding this mistake saves considerable time and expense and avoids the loss of institutional memory. It takes thought, planning, measurement and investment to keep your best, but it pays!
Check us out at www.GreatLakesProfiles.com. We have a suite of assessments which include the PXT Select (for selection, succession planning, and development purposes) our Emotional Intelligence assessments, our Everything DiSC assessments, our Customer Service assessment, our Integrity assessment, and our 360o surveys as well as culture consulting and a host of other training programs. We’re here to help, reach out to us at [email protected] or call us at (248) 388-0697.