The high cost of employee turnover can cripple any business, and with turnover rates skyrocketing across every industry, few aren't concerned. According to recently released Bureau of Labor Statistics, voluntary employee turnover in food service, hospitality, and retailing sectors is, by far, the highest: industries, predictably, that employ the greatest percentage of 16 to 24 year olds.
Many managers in these service-based industries are quick to point the finger at workers who are the least likely to commit to their jobs--those oddly attired, entitlement-minded, fickle youth of this emerging generation. It's easy to paint today's youth as inherently disloyal resume builders who are scant on work ethic and commitment. Blaming them, however, deflects any personal responsibility for the turnover pandemic and does nothing to solve the problem.
Ironically, when I see turnover rate reports for service-sector jobs, I often wonder why they aren't higher than they are. After all, young people know they can fight with the boss during the morning shift, quit before lunch, and have another job offer before dinner. Sure, it's a hassle starting a new job, but if your present job has become an even bigger hassle, then it's time to bolt. But this is only the tip of the iceberg of why today's youth aren't interested in playing the old "bleed the company colors" game.
Gen Whys have heard tales of people working at the same jobs for 40 years and retiring with little gold watches, but those stories are as relevant to them as an eight-track tape. Times have changed. Gen Whys have seen their parents outsourced, right-sized, and downsized by the very organizations they helped build. And their parents aren't the only ones affected by layoffs and payroll slashing. Just look at a recent maneuver made by the big Kahunas at Circuit City.
Seeking to reverse falling stock prices, the nation's No. 2 electronics retailer (behind Best Buy) announced they'll soon lay off 3,400 workers--many of them teens and young adults--simply because they're making "above-market wages." Those affected will receive a severance package and the chance to reapply for their former jobs ten weeks later, naturally at lower wages. Although this move sent stock prices up 1.9 percent, the residual shift of employee morale, performance, and customer service will be anything but upward. Word will spread on MySpace of how this big box retailer treats teens and young adults, which will not only throw a kink in Circuit City's application flow, but also wreak havoc on sales for a brand that's perpetually trying to woo young consumers.
To be fair, Circuit City is not alone in this practice. It's part of a new way of controlling labor costs in the service industry. Employers determine the prevailing market wages for particular jobs in various geographic regions, and then find ways to make sure workers' salaries stay within that range, no matter what. In most cases, little or no consideration is given to employees' longevity, productivity, or quality of work. Ironically, these are the same decision-makers who frequently rant, "You just can't find and keep good young talent these days!"
The Take Away
There's no secret strategy to reducing turnover. To keep employees loyal, you must first demonstrate loyalty to employees. Reducing costly turnover and hanging on to your staff are not management tactics or strategies, but rather direct byproducts of how your organization values and treats its people on a daily basis. Virtually every company I've worked with over the past ten years has a pithy statement in their employee handbook or posted above the reception area boasting "we value our employees" or "our people make the difference." While all can cite examples of the lengths they've gone to for their top-level execs and managers, only a fraction can demonstrate that this commitment extends to employees at their front registers and in their loading docks, stock rooms, and parking lots.
It's challenging enough to get Gen Whys to envision a future in your organization, but if you're in the habit of checking market conditions to determine if you're paying front liners more than is absolutely necessary, you'll continue to face a turnover battle you'll never win.
Remember, to this amazingly connected and "always-on" generation, word of a good employment situation spreads fast, but word of someone "getting screwed over by the man" spreads even faster.
MIXED SIGNALS?: Police in Palmer, Alaska, "chased off" Brian Tanner, 21, who was sitting in his car outside the public library, after it was closed. Tanner's crime? He was playing games on his laptop computer, using the library's free wireless Internet access. The next evening, police spotted him there again. "It was kind of like, 'Well, gee whiz, come on'," said police Lt. Tom Remaley. Police confiscated Tanner's computer and threatened him with criminal charges, but were thwarted: "I think I finally understand from the library that they don't charge for it," Remaley said. "They don't have a time limit. That means there's no theft." But, Remaley said, Tanner may still face charges such as trespassing or criminal mischief, since a police officer had told him "You can't do that. Go away." (Anchorage Daily News) "Put that bullet back in your shirt pocket, Barney! You're scaring all the citizens!"
| April 23 | Atlantic City, NJ |
| April 25 | Orlando, FL |
| May 1 | St. Paul, MN |
| May 5/6 | Austin, TX |
| May 7 | Marco Island, FL |
| May 10 | Phoenix, AZ |
| June 6 | Boca Raton, FL |
| June 12 | Toronto, ON |
| June 25 | Atlanta, GA |
| June 27 | Silver Springs, PA |
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| I'll take fifty percent efficiency to get one hundred percent loyalty. |
| Samuel Goldwyn |
| Loyalty is something you give regardless of what you get back, and in giving loyalty, you're getting more loyalty; and out of loyalty flow other great qualities. |
| Charles "Tremendous" Jones |
| Loyalty means nothing unless it has at its heart the absolute principle of self-sacrifice. |
| Woodrow T. Wilson |
| By working faithfully eight hours a day you may eventually get to be boss and work twelve hours a day. |
| Robert Frost |
| There are no secrets to success. Don't waste your time looking for them. Success is the result of perfection, hard work, learning from failure, loyalty to those for whom you work, and persistence. |
| Colin Powell |
| If you work for someone, then work for them: Speak well of them and stand by the institution they represent...Remember, an ounce of loyalty is worth a pound of cleverness...If you must growl, condemn, and eternally find fault, resign your position and when you are on the outside, complain to your hearts content...but as long as you are a part of the institution do not condemn it. |
| Elbert Hubbard - famous American writer of the 19th Century |
| People need to realize that every time they talk about how "fragile" our planet is, it's just like inviting outer-space aliens to come and attack us. |
| Jack Handey - Author, Deep Thoughts |
Stay Whys Website of the Month
Need to ramp up your hourly workforce for summer? Snag-a-Job is the #1 online job board high school and college students use to find seasonal work.Check it out at www.snagajob.com
And if you want to ramp up early for next year's April Fools Day, here are the 100 greatest pranks of all time:
http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/aprilfool/
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