In this issue: Resources:
Word to the Whys A New Year's resolution is something that goes in one year and out the other.
Author Unknown
It is useless for the sheep to pass resolutions in favor of vegetarianism, while the wolf remains of a different opinion.
Dean Inge R. William
Sudden resolutions, like the sudden rise of mercury in a barometer, indicate little else than the variability of the weather.
David Hare
Opportunity is missed by most because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.
Thomas Alva Edison
You don't drown by falling in the water; you drown by staying there.
Edwin Louis Cole
The New Year is a new beginning.
English Proverb
I think someone should have had the decency to tell me the luncheon was free. To make someone run out with potato salad in his hand, pretending he's throwing up, is not what I call hospitality.
Jack Handey – Author, Deep Thoughts
Stay Whys
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“In business, it’s not what you bring in; it’s what you keep of what you bring in that determines whether you’ll succeed or fail.”
I don’t know who originally said this, but no truer words have ever been spoken. Filling your coffers with coins means very little if a hole in the bottom enables all your profits to escape. In today’s tight labor market, employee turnover is one hole every manager must find a way to patch.
According to a 2004 Gallup survey, at any given moment 62 percent of an organization’s work force is actively seeking a new job and would be ready to leave if a better opportunity emerged. This figure encompasses all four generations of employees in the current workforce. This depressing number becomes even uglier when limiting the study to employees under the age of 25.
A recent USA Today article citing job trends of recent college graduates pointed out that of the 95% who found a job in their field of study, an astounding 82% left their first job in two years or less. The Department of Labor projects that by age 32, young adults will have had approximately eight jobs, an average of only 1.5 years at each! When looking at the escalating costs of recruiting, hiring, and training against the forecast of a gloomy labor market, turnover is a cancer that can—and will—be the death of many a business this year.
The costs associated with hiring and training a new employee far exceed what some managers might think. Aside from experiencing a dip in productivity and potential of lost sales, getting a new person up to speed could result in higher overtime costs because existing employees have to work more hours to fill in the gaps. Naturally, hiring new associates means bracing for costly “rookie” errors, the likelihood of accidents, and the expense of uniforms and equipment.
And don’t forget the ultimate nightmare scenario. What if the rising star you recruited, trained, and built a close relationship with not only resigns, but leaves your enterprise to work for your competitor? Now you’ve aided and abetted the enemy! This is akin to running to your bank, making a large withdrawal, then sprinting to your competitor’s bank and depositing those funds.
Without question, the most effective method of applying the brakes to employee turnover is to get the right people working for your organization in the first place. People who are well-matched to their jobs tend to stay put. But, in reality, most managers who rely heavily on young hourly employees live in a perpetual crisis-hiring mode and, subsequently, don’t take the time and energy to find the right employee. Instead, they rely on the ‘any port in the storm’ theory, or the ‘whatever sticks to the wall’ technique of hiring en masse, knowing that most will leave and thinking a few will stay. This revolving door mindset is lethal to any business; yet, it has become quite commonplace.
Managers Must Realize the Cost of Making a Bad Hire
Telling a manager that sloppy hiring is bad for business is not enough; they’ve got to see it and feel it to really “get it.” In that spirit, allow me to share with you an extraordinary tool for helping your managers see how important every hiring decision they make really is. You can download a complimentary copy of Calculating the Cost of a Bad Hire here and encourage your management team to ‘do the math’ for themselves!
There has never been a better time to wake-up your management team to the truth. When they discover what turnover on their front line does to their bottom line, your managers will dedicate themselves to rethinking and reinventing their recruiting, hiring, and retention efforts.
Let’s join forces to make 2007 the year we focus on new methodologies to find, develop, and hang on to your most cherished resource – your emerging workforce!
NEW SPECIAL REPORT
Last month, we released the Special Report, More Than 50 Great Interview Questions to Ask a Whys Applicant, created exclusively by WhysNews readers and now available as a downloadable PDF. It’s been such an overwhelming hit that we’re going to compile a follow-up Special Report to be released this Spring entitled, More Than 50 Great Tools and Techniques for Retaining Whys Employees. Help Me Help You! If you submit a retention idea or technique that is published in the report, you will receive an advanced copy of this report, before the general public has access to it, and before it hits the bookstores. Also, unless you choose to remain anonymous, you/your company will receive full credit for your contribution.
Don't patiently wait to read this report...help write it! Simply send an email with the words “Gen Why Retention Idea” in the subject line to eric@generationwhy.com. In the body of your email, write out the specific retention strategy/technique that you have found successful in reducing turnover among your youngest employees. I’m not looking for management philosophy or theory, but rather solid, usable retention tips, tools, ideas, and strategies that have proven successful for you and your organization! If appropriate, include a sentence or two explaining how this idea has proven successful for you/your organization and any statistical information that may prove helpful to readers. Submit as many ideas as you’d like. Include your name, position, and company, and whether you'd like to be mentioned in the report as a contributor if your submission is reprinted.
Whys Cracks
Ryan Daniel Goff, 20, has been charged with felony attempted extortion after allegedly putting a dead mouse in a burrito he got at a Traverse City, Mich., Taco Bell. He complained to the restaurant that his food tasted "funny," and then took the mouse to the county health department, commenting to workers there about how much money "the lady got from McDonald's" after spilling coffee in her lap. Prosecutors say Goff then called a Taco Bell regional manager to say it "won't be a good day if the media finds out about this," and said he wanted "something that would make my ears tingle" to settle. Police heard something that made their ears tingle: Goff's girlfriend said he bought the mouse from a pet store, and said he put it in his burrito "to get rich quick." (Traverse City Record-Eagle)
My recent blog discusses Gen Y’s insatiable thirst for fame and fortune. (Thankfully, most would never stoop this low.) Read it here.
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