Despite the generally slow job market, three out of four organizations lost high-performing employees they did not want to lose during the past year, compared to 54% a year ago, according to a survey by Right Management.
“We found that most organizations are finding it tough to hold onto their best people even when there are relatively few job openings,” said Bram Lowsky, Right Management’s group executive vice president for the Americas. “Previous research findings tell us there’s a furious war for top talent under way, constant poaching of high performers by competing companies and, overall, a very restive workforce. The latest survey shows organizations losing the employees they need, erosion that may accelerate once the job market picks up.”
Lowsky cautions employers who may be complacent in their retention efforts, due to the sluggish economy. “It’s really not enough to tell them to wait until the economy improves, especially if they’re new employees and more impatient for opportunity and advancement,” he says.
Indeed, a report in this month’s EBN cites Deloitte statistics showing that only 35% of employees plan to remain with their current employer, a 10 percentage point decrease from a similar survey conducted in September 2009. Nearly two out of three employees (65%) surveyed are passively or actively looking elsewhere.
“There are a lot of people out there with a wandering eye,” Jay Meschke, president of EFL Associates, a CBIZ company, tells EBN.
