Your best employees are contemplating quitting. Survey results from Job Seeker Nation and others suggest that as many as 82 percent of workers are looking for new job opportunities.

This is more than people using a good economy to find a job that they like better than the one they have today. Zip Recruiter found that 49 percent of those actively looking for a something new actually like—and in many cases love—their jobs. An article in Fast Company recommends that people should proactively change jobs every 3 years for the rest of their life. No wonder the average person today changes jobs 10 to 15 times in their career.

The question isn’t if you are vulnerable to good people leaving. You are. The better question is “What can I do to slow down the potential exodus?” Here are five things you can do right now.

  • Challenge people to do more and then allow them to do it. The belief that your employees – especially your millennials – want to do as little as possible just to get by isn’t true. A Gallup study found that the opportunity to learn and grow is the number one thing they want in a job. Likewise, the Society of Human Resource Management reports that increasing the opportunity for people to use their skills and abilities is one of the best things you can do to keep your team engaged.
  • Appreciate effort and contribution a lot more than you do now. Research conducted by the O.C. Tanner Company reveals that 79 percent cite the lack of appreciation as a key reason for leaving their job. The research also indicates that employees want some form of recognition every 7 days while 85 percent of managers offer it either monthly, quarterly, or even less often. You might not like that employees want that much recognition, but it doesn’t really matter. Employees will choose to go where their needs are met.
  • Communicate a positive vision. Employees that don’t find their company’s vision to be meaningful have an engagement level of only 16 percent. Those that have a high connection with the vision have engagement levels of 68 percent. Now is a great time to re-read your vision statement from the perspective of your employees. If it isn’t positive and inspiring, you run the risk of losing their attention.
  • Create a strong culture. A strong, vibrant culture is your company’s greatest asset. It helps to retain great people who appreciate the opportunity to contribute. It also helps everyone in the organization stay focused on doing great work.
  • Don’t forget their compensation. Sooner or later you will have to bring you salary and benefits in line with the marketplace. The good news, however, is that a great place to work means that you don’t have to compete on price.

Remember: You are in a seller’s market for talent. Your best team members will be the target of someone else’s pitch. More important, being happy in their current job is no longer a guarantee that your people aren’t proactively looking for other opportunities. Your job is to make being on your team so rewarding that people don’t return the calls or look to see what’s out there.

 

Randy Pennington is an award-winning author, speaker, and leading authority on helping organizations achieve positive results in a world of accelerating change. To bring Randy to your organization or event, visit www.penningtongroup.com , email info@penningtongroup.com, or call 972.980.9857.