Job Hopping is the New Normal – Plan and Expect for Employee Turnover

The New Normal – Why Employers Should Expect and Plan for Employee Turnover?

Among other things, millennials have been labelled as “job hoppers”, but even before this group entered the work force patterns of employment were changing. For the baby boomer generation, people expected to maintain a career at one company for 25 plus years. Today this employment model is outdated. The three generations of workers since the boomers have been paving their own path in the working world. “Job hopping” has shed its’ negative stigma. The new normal is an environment where loyalty to oneself comes before loyalty to the employer.

Although this change has slowly evolved over the years, employers and people managers are having a hard time adjusting to this new normal. The expectation that employees will stay on for 10+ years still exists. People managers need to change their talent management strategy, hiring methods and mindset. Managers should embrace and cultivate this new group of workers who truly want a career that allows them to grow and succeed.

Top Five Reasons Why Employees Look to Move On

After researching leading magazines and online resources like Fast Company and Forbes, here are the top five reasons why employees look to move on:

• Their current employer has a lack of vision
• Lack of opportunities for professional development
• Poor work environment – lack of friendliness, trust, and mutual respect
• Lack of good communication within organizational units
• Lack of information about business performance

Without a doubt, the most common reason for employee job hopping is lack of vision and opportunity. Employees want a clear vision of the company’s future and how they fit into it. They need to  know where the organization is going, it’s goals and to believe there is opportunity for professional development. An employer with a concise strategy for the future is a place people want to work. 

Not so obvious is the need for consistent and relevant communication about the status of the organization. People spend more than half of their day in the workplace. It is natural to expect the working environment to be governed by relations of trust, mutual respect and understanding. This expectation is delivered simply by having good communication. Equally important is timely information about events and business performance. When employees are well-informed about the business, there tends to be a reduction in employee dissatisfaction behavior such as gossip and misinformation.

Embrace New Talent 

Managers need to build systems and programs that address the main reasons why employees leave. Talent Management programs should be designed to ensure promising employees are not exiting prematurely. At the same time, programs should factor in the reality that employees will move on to new roles every 2 to 3 years. 

Embracing new talent with renewed vision regularly is a benefit to the organization. Employers should always be looking to replace employees who have run their course. New employees offer a wealth of experience across different avenues, new ideas and perspectives. At the end of the day it is the “job hoppers” who are known to be adaptable, creative thinkers, higher performers, and even to be more dedicated to achievement.

To learn more about how to plan for employee turnover and manage job hopping, take a look through our library of resources and at past articles that dive right into the topic!

• Secrets Behind Employee Retention and
• Succession Planning – You Need a Talent Management Strategy