Lies, statistics, and common sense. What is new hire turnover in your organisation?

I love a good stat, especially a new one; so, when a consulting company posted on LinkedIn that 28% of people leave their jobs within the first three months, I was immediately interested — and alarmed! That’s a very high percentage; and as someone who specialises in the experience of new hires, this was something I didn’t know (and thought maybe I should).

I read the article attached to the post, which was quoting another article, so I read that one too. And wouldn’t you know, that in turn referenced another article. What that article actually said was over one-quarter were willing to quit — it didn’t actually say they quit. I couldn’t find the source document for that, but I did find a press release from the company that did the research. What I found there was even worse – almost everyone (91%) of 9000 job candidates surveyed by a recruitment company said they were willing to quit in the first month if the job didn’t live up to expectations.

Data flows around the web and in presentations like wild fire, and when prefaced with “research tells us,” few people bother to question it. I recognise only people like me — with nothing better to do — have the time to check, but what does common sense tell you? If that stat was true, it would mean one in three, or one in four, or nine out of ten (depending on which article quoting the same research you read) new employees leave before most people even know their name! Could that be right?

When you read figures like that, take a look around your work place; does it make sense in your context? Even conservatively, a 28% turnover rate would be cause for your alarm!

A statistic all organisations might find interesting is the turnover of people in their first year in the company. In New Zealand it’s 28%? How does your organisation compare?

While I was working with a legal firm recently, a partner commented to me that one of his team left to travel to Europe just as she was coming up to the two-year mark.  According to the partner, this was “just after I had trained her, and she was becoming useful.” 

I can understand the disappointment of the partner, and think that knowing the statistics of turnover rate within the first two years is also highly useful. It is by this stage a new employee will know the industry and their role, have established relationships, be working efficiently, and beginning to innovate. Then, just when they are adding real value, they leave!

Any turnover of employees in the first year is a waste, and it’s expensive. Like the partner in the law firm, I think any turnover in the first two years is also a waste. Fortunately, there are some things that can be done to reduce turnover in this period. On our website, we talk about the 7 Cs of Success in a new job. How well does your organisation cover them for your new people? Could you reduce your turnover rate?  https://www.rightstartjobs.com/organisations/the-cs-of-success

 

photo credit: 

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