Every three years, 91% of Millennials expect to change jobs.
That stat is pretty staggering, especially considering the ramifications to organizations.
Organizational and team stability allow trust, culture, morale, skill, productivity, long-term planning, customer relationships, and more to thrive. Yet, these organizational necessities become severely limited if our teams feel more like revolving doors.
The Good OLD Days
When I was growing up and deciding on a college major, my parents (strongly) encouraged me to choose something practical. Why? They were part of a generation where you took decent job with a solid company, accepted incremental raises and the occasional promotion, all in hopes of retiring with a modest 401k or pension.
That was my father’s plan. That was the plan for his peers. And that was the plan he wanted (and expected) for me.
The Times They HAVE Changed
Enter the new workforce and their expectations. This post is not an evaluation of the Millennial culture but more an assessment of the consequences of this behavior.
While the Millennial worker may benefit from these ongoing job changes, the organizations they leave and enter suffer with each change.
What happens to a team, department, division, or organization when the team, department, division, and organization lacks any stability?
Trust, culture, morale, skill, cost of recruiting and training, productivity, long-term planning, customer relationships, and more suffer when current staff members leave and new team members join. The more frequent these changes, the more the transitions influence the team’s well-being.
What Should We Do?
The reality of job change is a ship that has sailed. I do believe companies and organizations can create a work environment that better retains staff, but there’s no turning back this transition reality in totality. The impacts will continue, and our organizations will suffer.
So, what should we do?
The answer for non-leadership staff is different than anyone leading others, but in a way, most everyone leads something. Organizations can limit these transitional disruptions by better understanding how leadership transitions affect teams and individuals.
