HR Issues

Employee Turnover: A Positive or Negative Metric?

2011-01-25T09:19:00.000-08:00

Employee turnover is often a metric organizations view as having a negative impact on the organization.
But in a recent article in HR Magazine, Shari Lau discusses the potential impact of employee turnover in various situations, and how often it can have a positive impact on the organization.

If a poor performing employee quits, there is no risk of a wrongful discharge claim.  But it can also be an opportunity for positive change for the organization.

In this scenario, the organization can:

1. Promote a current employee
2. Hire someone with greater skills
3. Evaluate the department for possible restructure
4. Realign the budget

If a poor employee is terminated, the impact for the organization can also be positive for most of the same reasons. In additon, a strong performance management system is evidence to leadership that managers are doing their jobs. It also helps to increase morale as employees see that their managers are only keeping employees who have satisfactory job performance. And new employees can bring a fresh perspective to an organization.

If a high performer resigns, there may be a temporary negative impact for the organization if it affects the ability of the organization to function properly.   There are also costs associated with hiring and training a new employee. But it also provides the organization an opportunity to reevaluate its career and employee development and total compensation programs.

High turnover is a concern, but low turnover can also be a concern if it means that low performers are rewarded with continuing employment.  Low turnover  can also be a sign of stagnation within an organization, and begs the question, "Why are these employees not being hired by other organizations?"

Summary

Employee turnover cannot be seen as a negative or positive metric in isolation of other factors. The size of the organization, profit vs. no-profit, and stage of organizational growth are some of the other factors for consideration. But regardless of these variables, this metric can be used as a tool to aid the organization's strategic planning and budgeting efforts.

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Four Tips for Motivating Employees in Uncertain Times

2010-10-14T15:48:00.000-07:00

Motivating employees properly is always important. But it is particularly important in an uncertain economic environment where people fear losing their jobs and have less loyalty to the organization.

1. Provide Pay for Performance: Provide incentive pay for top talent to motivate them to perform in their roles.

2. Offer Non–Monetary Rewards: Employees have different needs and values and so it is best to ask employees what kinds of non-monetary rewards are the most meaningful for them. Some may value telecommuting, unpaid time off, or flextime.

3. Don’t overlook intrinsic rewards such as career development opportunities within the organization.These can be more effective than monetary rewards.

4. Managers often try a “one size fits all” approach to a rewards program that is based on what motivates management. It is best to survey employees and design programs to fit the employees and the means of the organization.

Undone-Positive Thinking, Finding Your Passion and The American Dream

2010-09-22T07:00:00.000-07:00

There are two books out recently that talk about how the ubiqutious promotion of positive thinking and the pursuit of the American Dream have undermined America. In Bright-Sided - How the Relentless Promotion of Postive Thinking Has Undermined America, Barbara Ehrenreich begins by describing how after diagnosed with cancer, she was repeatedly bombarded with the message that having cancer was a gift. Grieving her loss of health became politically unacceptable in this environment espousing that with positive thought you can co-create your reality.

It is this same refusal to calculate the downside or worst case scenario (and perhaps greed) by our financial institutions, that resulted in the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Riding on the wave of positive thinking with the goal of financial prosperity, the financial institutions collaborated with individuals, allowing many to live beyond their means so that they were not prepared for any changes in their financial situation. Then with the economic downturn, many lost their jobs and were forced into foreclosure and bankrupcy. Those in the real estate and related industries were particularly hard hit, many through no fault of their own.

In Radical: Taking Back Your Faith From the American Dream, 26 year old David Platt who leads a megachurch in Birmingham Alabama, targets the corporation-like magachurches that offer consumer Christianity. The American Dream comes with a focus on the self which is contrary to the Judeo-Christian beliefs in the Bible. Religion and spirituality are no longer about human compassion, forgiveness, feeding the poor and caring for the sick, but more about "What's God going to do for me today?"

What went hand in hand with the pursuit of material pleasures and the entitlement to financial and material prosperity, came the cry to find your passion in your work and your life. So we see people who are not happy doing a job well, contributing to society, and using their unique skills and abilities. They are not happy because of the impossible expectation that in this life you are entitled to always feel joyful about your work. Gone now is the satisfaction that comes from doing honest work using your skills and abilities, paying your mortgage, taking modest vacations and perhaps even sending your children to private schoools. We want more. The sky is the limit, we are told.

But wait - recent studies show that people are now saving more which, ironically, is helping to keep us in this recession. So perhaps in the next few years we will see a trend toward living in a modest home, and satisfied with the simple pleasures of having a job we do well, a paycheck and no credit card debt.

Most Employers Not Addressing Workplace Stress

2010-07-26T14:25:00.000-07:00

A recent report by Watson Wyatt Worldwide and the National Buisness Group on Health finds that employers are not taking measures to relieve the stress that employees are experiencing from long hours, a lack of work/life balalnce and fear of job loss. Health and productivity management programs, however, are keeping health care costs and absenteeism down.

The survey included 352 employers with 1,000 or more employees during the summer of 2009.

Specific findings include:

Companies with the most effective health and productivity management programs had medical costs averaging 1.2 % lower than those employers who cut back on such programs, fewer lost days due to unplanned absences of employees, and higher average returns to shareholders.
Although 78 % of respondents citred excessive work hours as a leading casue of stress, only 21 % said they were taking steps to address stress management.
Employers report a higher use of health care benefits (40%), disability claims (35 %) and the use of employee assistance programs (50%).
78 % of respondents cited excessive work hours as a leading cause of stress among their employees, but just 21% of them said they are taking steps to address this stress.
Although 68 % of employers cited lack of work/life balance as a leading employee stress producer, only 38 % said they are taking action to combat this stress factor.
67 percent of employers cite fear of job loss as a leading cause of employee stress, yet only
41 percent of employers said they are addressing this issue.

If you are an executive, manager or HR Director, what is your organization doing to address the issues of work/life balance, long work hours and fear of job loss?

For more information on this report, see Staying at Work.

Five Workforce Management (WFM) Questions for Every Organization*

2010-07-12T11:07:00.000-07:00

#1 Financial
Are current Time and Labor Management processes and systems designed to control spending and deliver ROI?

• WFM technology should drive cost reduction

• Plug  any leakage

• WFM practices should help drive revenue

#2 Strategic
Are our WFM systems used daily to deepen follow-through on C Level
strategic goals at all levels?

• WFM rules and actions should be aligned to goals

• Use design reviews

• Measure the expected outcomes

• Map a course for evolution & mission success

#3 Operational
Has the process of labor management been deployed for maximum effectiveness and proven to contribute to operational success?

• We should up to date

• We include everyone & use everything

• We measure what’s important

• We connect operational goals to the application and people

#4 People & Positioning
    Do we have the right people involved?

• The key players care about what’s most important

• Needed experts are included

• Someone is empowered to deliver change

• We understand our own value propositions

#5 Compliance
Do I understand my compliance risks?

• Rules and regulations are  in force

• There are no gaps in Compliance Assurance

*From HCI.org

Using Metrics to Measure “Good Hire” Ratio

2010-06-30T13:04:00.000-07:00

As the economy recovers, managing human resources will be central to a business environment as people go back to work. Of particular importance is the ability of the organization to attract, engage and retain the best talent available.

Many companies use metrics to measure “time to fill’ and “cost per hire.” But more organizations are now measuring “qualify of fill”. Some of the factors considered in this metric include:

• Employee retention

• Performance evaluations

• Employee promotions

• New hire surveys

Another quality calculation are using more frequently is based on the “net quality score.’ This metric measures the sum of all hires in the last year, minus those who scored in the bottom half of all employees at their first performance evaluation.

12 Questions to Measure Employee Engagement

2010-06-09T16:21:00.000-07:00

Five years ago the Gallup Organization developed a 12-question survey that identifies strong feelings of employee engagement. Results from the survey show a strong correlation between high scores and superior job performance.*
1. Do you know what is expected of you at work?
2. Do you have the materials and equipment you need to do your work right?
3. At work, do you have the opportunity to do what you do best every day?
4. In the last seven days, have you received recognition or praise for doing good work?
5. Does your supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about you as a person?
6. Is there someone at work who encourages your development?
7. At work, do your opinions seem to count?
8. Does the mission/purpose of your company make you feel your job is important?
9. Are your associates (fellow employees) committed to doing quality work?
10. Do you have a best friend at work?
11. In the last six months, has someone at work talked to you about your progress?
12. In the last year, have you had opportunities at work to learn and grow?

*Taken from Workforce.com