Tampa, Fla., (January 8, 2009) – Despite unemployment trends and a sinking economy, 23 percent of U.S. workers expect to leave their existing positions, according to a recent retention study.
The study, commissioned by
AchieveGlobal, analyzes how organizations across the globe are addressing issues of talent retention and attrition and how this affects organizations as a whole. More than 738 human resources and business managers worldwide participated in the September 2008 study that provides insight on the following questions:
- How likely are people to leave their current positions?
- What categories of workers are most likely to leave their existing jobs?
- How is turnover impacting businesses?
- Why are employees leaving?
- What are the best practices for businesses to retain their best employees?
In the U.S., 47 percent of respondents feel that the highest percent of turnover is occurring within specific employee groups. Within these employee groups, managers cited Generation Y employees (under 25) as the employee group most likely to have the highest levels of attrition (42 percent), followed by frontline managers (28 percent), and women (20 percent).
“Attrition among high performing employees is largely catalyzed by insufficient compensation, lack of growth opportunities and employee contributions not being recognized,” said AchieveGlobal CEO Sharon Daniels. “The effects of high performers vacating job positions can ripple throughout many levels of a company, resulting in low employee morale or deteriorating quality of products or services. Talent management programs must address rapid turnover effectively and efficiently so that attrition doesn’t negatively impact an organization.”
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics September 2008 report, overall U.S. voluntary turnover for September 2008 was relatively flat from the month before at 1.5 percent, but the more significant number was the steady decline in voluntary turnover the previous three months, bringing the level to its lowest point since August 2003. Not surprisingly, the highest turnover rates are still in the accommodation and food service industry (3.8 percent) and lowest in state and local government (.6 percent).
“While overall turnover rates may decrease in the current economy, keeping high performers will still be a competitive advantage,” said Daniels. “It’s understood that compensation benefits are not always feasible with smaller budgets, but human resources can focus on other talent management aspects, such as ensuring employee recognition, having career development strategies and allowing flexibility for a healthy work-life balance.”
Organizations experiencing tough budget decisions should consider talent management strategies that shift focus to emphasize growth and development opportunities, or maximize awareness of, and appreciation for, the organization’s learning environment. Best practices for successfully retaining valuable employees may include creating an employee engagement plan to keep open communications channels with talent, providing a learning environment through employee training, and developing or implementing talent management technology to manage all aspects of the employee experience from recruitment to retirement.
Study Methodology
This study adopts a quantitative online methodology targeting eight countries to garner insight on the objectives listed, which is to evaluate current talent management and retention challenges among organizations from a global perspective. The countries included in the study are as follows: USA, UK, Germany, France, China, Singapore, India, and Japan. Three regions were created for comparison purposes; US, Europe and Asia.
Human Resource and Business Functions Managers with direct reports were selected from their corresponding countries to represent professionals with hiring and staffing responsibilities. Seven hundred and thirty eight managers participated in the study from the aforementioned regions.
About AchieveGlobal
AchieveGlobal is the world leader in providing exceptional interpersonal business skills, giving companies the workforce they need for business results. In the 21st century, the level of human skills will determine organization success. Located in over 40 countries, AchieveGlobal offers multi-language, learning based solutions - globally, regionally and locally. For more information, see
www.achieveglobal.com.