As you may have noticed, I tend to take a business perspective on all matters turnover and retention. Much of the current literature on employee retention seems to have missed the point. And it is this: some departures matter more than others.
You are trying to meet your business goals for this year then over the course of 6 weeks, 3 key people decide to leave. Any chance of reaching your targets has just vanished. Of course you can get replacements, but there is no chance that you can get them up to speed in time. On reflection you wish you had put a little more effort into retaining your 3 key people; maybe you wouldn't have been able to keep all of them but there's a fair chance you could have prevented one or two of the departures.
Another department also loses 3 people. One of these departures is not far short of being a relief to all concerned. Another is disappointing because they are a nice person but in terms of productivity it won't be much of a loss as replacements can usually find their feet soon enough. And the third was long expected, their replacement is an in-house promotion that has been lined up for months, prepared and ready to start.
Comments