Over the past several years, the economy has been bad enough that it’s been easier for businesses of all sizes to retain their talent; the uncertain job market forced many workers who otherwise might have tried their luck to stay put for security’s sake. But now that the economy has grown more robust, and the effects of its recovery so strong, more workers are quitting their jobs, leaving many entrepreneurs worried.
Recent polls suggest that a healthy proportion of small business owners are now working more actively to keep their top employees, specifically because so many more people are quitting these days, according to a report from the Associated Press. In fact, the latest data from the U.S. Department of Labor shows that the number of people quitting increased nearly 10 percent on an annual basis in July (to 2.5 million), the latest month for which data was available. Still more polls show that nearly 2 in 5 workers plan to quit their jobs in the next five years, up from 30 percent in 2010.
So what can be done?
Experts now say that there has to be some amount of understanding on both sides of the coin when it comes to smaller companies retaining top talent, the report said. It might be wise for owners to highlight to top workers everything that’s special about working for a smaller company, and which might be lost if they leave for improvements in pay and benefits with a bigger competitor.
Meanwhile, that likely also means that these entrepreneurs will also have to do more to help keep those valued employees from even thinking of straying, the report said. Many workers already took huge hits over the last few years when the economy was bad, and therefore could expect to be rewarded more generously than normal if they’re going to be retained.
“At some point, it’s no longer sustainable to give people 2 or 3 percent increases on a base salary you’ve already reduced in some cases by 20 percent in 2009,” David Lewis, president of human resources provider OperationsInc, based in Norwalk, Connecticut, told the news agency.
Owners who want to be able to reward workers more generously might want to consider the ways in which they can cut costs going forward to better facilitate those efforts. That could include finding more affordable small business insurance, including policies for liability insurance, to potentially free up thousands per year.
