Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal (http://tinyurl.com/34eh2pn) reported that since February, more employees voluntarily quit their jobs than were laid off. This is the first time this has happened since the recession began, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics which previously recorded more layoffs than resignations for 15 straight months.
Prior to that, the average number of people voluntarily leaving their jobs per month had been about 2.7 million. In October 2008, the average number dropped to 1.72 million. This March, it bumped up to 1.87 million.
If this is the start of a new trend, and the number of employees quitting continues to grow, what could it mean for businesses across the nation? Could a solid mentoring program help to stem the tide and help the talent within step up to fill the void? We believe the answer is YES!
Recruiters and human-resource experts interviewed by the WSJ say the increase in employees giving notice is being caused by two things. First, the natural turnover of employees leaving to advance their careers didn’t occur during the recession because jobs were so scarce. Workers were waiting for the job market to improve before making a move to better jobs.
The second thing that may be making it harder for companies to retain employees is the effect of the heavy cost-cutting and downsizing on workers’ morale that occurred over the past two years. WSJ reported the results of a survey conducted by the Conference Board, a management research organization. A drop in job fulfillment was found to be the result of workers being less satisfied with wages and less interested in work. In 2009, 34.6% of workers were satisfied with their wages, down more than seven percentage points from 1987. About 51% in 2009 said they were interested in work, down 19 percentage points from 1987.
We believe that when people see a path to the future that benefits them, their careers and their families, they will take action to move toward that future. A strong mentoring program shows employees that the company is as interested in their future as they are. It provides a support structure, the opportunity to try new things, learn new things and broaden the employee’s network within the organization.
Disillusioned workers may not embrace the idea of participating in a mentoring program until they begin to see the results and a sustained commitment from management. Buy-in from upper management, training to provide a solid foundation for mentors and mentees to get off on the right foot, and support and coaching for the duration of the program will increase success.
