{"id":12314,"date":"2022-12-08T06:47:00","date_gmt":"2022-12-08T12:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shieldagency.com\/blog\/?p=12314"},"modified":"2022-12-05T14:08:03","modified_gmt":"2022-12-05T20:08:03","slug":"why-employee-turnover-is-more-contagious-than-ever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shieldagency.com\/blog\/why-employee-turnover-is-more-contagious-than-ever\/","title":{"rendered":"Why employee turnover is more contagious than ever"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Worklife<\/a> | November 30, 2022, by\u00a0Oliver Pickup<\/a> | Business Insurance<\/a> | Employee Turnover<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the hybrid-working era, job departures are more contagious than ever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When a teammate goes \u2014 whether pushed or pulled \u2014 it leaves colleagues reflecting on their positions while having to pick up the extra slack. And it means they are 9.1% more likely to head for the exit, too, according to a new report<\/a> published in mid-November by global employee analytics and workforce platform Visier. As the Great Resignation shows no sign of breaking stride, this statistic could become a thornier issue for business leaders and HR professionals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEmployee turnover can be contagious because humans tend to imitate other people,\u201d said Andrea Derler, principal of research and value at Visier. \u201cThis means that when a fellow employee\u2019s intentions to quit become clear, it can trigger others to evaluate their situation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A cluster of departures is also incredibly destabilizing for any organization and could lead to a recruitment scramble. This desperate-but-necessary tactic might plug the gaps before more employees leave, but the rush to hire could be a misstep if they turn out to be a bad fit for the company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was taught that teams \u2018form, norm, perform, and storm,\u2019 so one resignation can lead to many,\u201d said Simon Roderick, managing director of Fram Search, a U.K.-based financial recruitment organization. \u201cFirms, managers, and teams often lose their way, and sometimes whole change is the only way to gain stability again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Visier report found that smaller teams have a higher probability of experiencing higher resignations due to turnover contagion. \u201cThis is because of stronger interdependencies between team members\u2019 tasks and their stronger personal relationships,\u201d said Derler.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Smaller teams but bigger problems<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Piers Hudson, senior director of Gartner\u2019s HR functional strategy and management research team, agreed with this insight. \u201cSmaller teams have micro-cultures, so when someone goes, it is worse as a trigger point,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As such, Hudson was not shocked by the 9.1% figure. \u201cIf anything, I was surprised it wasn\u2019t higher,\u201d he said. \u201cAny departure would lead you to reconsider your role. It might raise things like your compensation and whether the person who has left is being paid more elsewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gartner delved into causes for considering one\u2019s position should a teammate leave. \u201cIt often creates more work for the rest of the team, and 56% of people told us that the number of tasks went up when a colleague left,\u201d said Hudson. Also, 28% reported that if a favorite colleague had departed, then work was \u201cless pleasurable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cEmployee turnover can be contagious because humans tend to imitate other people. This means that when a fellow employee\u2019s intentions to quit become clear, it can trigger others to evaluate their situation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andrea Derler, principal of research and value at Visier.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Lesley Cooper, a well-being consultant and founder of London-headquartered mental health service WorkingWell, believes that having best friends at work develops a mutually reinforcing attitude to stick at a job, whatever the challenges. So when that workplace buddy goes, the person left feels isolated and exposed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSome people stay in jobs or inside a toxic team because they have one or more work relationships that they value enough to compensate for the aspects of their job or the team culture that they find uncomfortable,\u201d Cooper said. \u201cWe often hear: \u2018I don\u2019t like the job or the company, but I love my colleagues.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, when a favored colleague leaves, the balance is disturbed, and \u201cthe \u2018protective\u2019 effect of the co-worker companionship\u201d is removed, meaning there are fewer reasons to stay, she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Employee Turnover<\/strong> is a Hybrid headache<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For more on this article, click here…<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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