About the rapid turnover of employees in industrialized nations, Chuck
Wallace asked:
> I wonder if we really understand the structural issues behind the above
> trend? Is it a necessity of "emergence" to have the free energy of new
> employees constantly injected into an organization to keep it alive.....
> or is it a result of our short term business cycle thinking with our need
> to "make the numbers" that starts the system into wild oscillation?
My experience, from a training perspective, is that the skills needed in
some businesses change so drastically so frequently, that a "use it and
lose it" mentality has developed among human resource personnel. It
seems easier to toss out people no longer qualified for a new position and
hire people who have that skill set. What this thinking neglects to
consider are all the "soft" skills the outgoing employee takes with
him...knowlege of the company, its workings, team skills, how to get
things done effectively and efficiently within that social system, the
products or machines, etc.
I see this trend swinging back somewhat in the U.S. because unemployment
is at an 30-year low (4.1% nationwide and 1.4% in my area). I can only
hope that this new enlightment will last awhile. Constant instability and
churn in businesses creates tremendous loss of productivity (as much as
50% in some studies I've read). People who are worried that they "might be
next" will be more concerned about networking, polishing their resumes,
and applying for other jobs. Businesses need to regain some of the
employee loyalty they so cavelierly tossed in the 90's. Having torn it
down, however, they will have to work twice as hard to build any of it
back up.
I realize that this perspective is not universal, but it has been my
observation and experience.
kind regards,
Vana Prewitt
Praxis Learning Systems
Chapel Hill, NC
www.PraxisLearning.com
--Vana Prewitt <vana@PraxisLearning.com>
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