There was a great article in the Wall Street Journal recently titled: A Healthy Dose of Loyalty that examines the benefits of employee loyalty. While society seems to devalue loyalty, it is becoming increasing clear throughout the recent downturn in the economy that people benefit psychologically when they remain with their same employer. Well, at least most employees. From the article:
Scientists have documented the health benefits of staying in a long-term romantic relationship, including reduced illness and longer life. Employees who stick with a single company rather than job-hop tend for the most part to be better compensated financially and to be more productive and creative, other research has found…
For most experienced workers, typically those who had at least five years of experience in the field, the bulk of wage growth comes from staying with an employer, not hopping between companies. People who had a minimum of experience of five years with a single employer typically got 8% increases in compensation a year compared with about 5% for people with a history of job hopping… "There's a perception in Silicon Valley that there's a gain to be had by hopping from employer to employer," says Dr. Shaw. "But short-term hopping is not advantageous to the employer or employee."While it is rare for employees to spend their whole career at one company, most are better off if they stay put for five to 10 years, she says.
(Tim Sackett, EVP - HRU) I think there’s a couple of ways to look at employee loyalty – one the person is just wired to not want change, thus staying with one employer is their preferred state of work. Two, the person isn’t a top player, thus don’t have the choices to go and work for another company. Regardless, I have seen in my career that those employees to tend to stick around, tend to eventually move up into leadership roles. What do you think Rowena?
(Amanda Rowe, Recruiting Manager - HRU) Wow Tim… are you referencing me? :) I can say that from my experience at HRU (10+ years of experience working as Recruiter, Account Manager and now Recruiting Manager) that I have learned a lot along the way from many different people and have a lot of experience to share. I hope that I have been moved into my current role due to my success throughout my tenure not just because I have been here for a long time. Most people who have stayed with a company long term have proved themselves within an organization and are better at relationship building. Unfortunately, those people are also at highest risk when the company goes through headcount reduction since they are highly compensated, thus perpetuating the “job hopping” trend for younger people. It is our job to keep communication open and keep our talent motivated and challenged at any role with the organization.
(Tim) Row, Row, Row your boat – Not referencing you at all! You deserve every promotion I give you… ;) I agree with you in that one’s ability to build strong and lasting relationships, has a direct correlation to a tenure with a company, for the simple fact if you have great relationships with those you work with, you won’t want to leave. I think most companies still use tenure when determining reductions, instead of performance, unfortunately, so that only helps keep your tenured folks around longer. I’m not sure there is a secret sauce for keeping employees around longer, but I think it all comes back to engagement and challenging work. Why did you stay around for 10 years?
(Amanda) I can’t say my 10 years have always been “Merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream” – (wow that was bad!), but I can say a big reason is feeling as though the company had an interest my professional development. Also, as an employee there is a fine line of understanding the grass isn’t always green when times get tough. As long as you have a manager that is in touch with your development and you are challenged longevity comes naturally. Plus, it always helps to have some great co-workers!
(Tim) Rowe-bo-cop, you make great point in that having such a super boss like me probably does have a big impact at keeping you around! But seriously, I'm right, right?! ;)
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