I am continually surprised at managers who are surprised when one of their own top people quits. Identifying who is likely to leave is relatively easy-if you are aggressive and think ahead. Some firms have reached as high as 75% accuracy in predicting who is likely to leave. With a planned strategy you can easily predict who is at risk of quitting. Be aware that there are many ethical, legal, and cultural issues involved in using some of the tools outlined below. Although I am not recommending all of these, each has been used by at least one firm. Each individual must set down their own limits, but it is important to remember that the goal of identifying who might be looking should never be to punish or criticize those individuals. A “Who is vulnerable?” search should be done in a positive manner, as an effort to begin the process of re-motivating the employee. The goal should never be to seek out the “disloyal.” Smart managers use this knowledge to improve the “lookers” job. Also be aware that as many as 85 percent of the reasons why a typical employee leaves are controlled by their direct manager-so the focus of most successful retention efforts must revolve around the manager! Part I. How To Find The Names Of Employees That Are Looking
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Part II. Smoke Detectors: Early Warning Signs Of Potential Turnover Before someone actually leave there are usually warning signs that they are unhappy. Some of them might include:
Be sure to increase identification efforts following a “trauma,” like a merger, RIF, product failure, or the loss of major customer. You should also offer a group incentive to the team if everyone stays until project completion, in order to encourage others to tell you about a possible “quitter”.