The Great Reshuffle – This is My Last Day Working Here!

Is it just me, or are there an awful lot of social media posts lately focusing on the Great Reshuffle starting with this phrase – “This is my last day at…………”?

There’s a definite pattern to the content of these messages:

• “It’s been an amazing ride”
• “What an awesome team”
• “I’ve learned so much”
• “I’m so grateful to ………….”

This probably sounds cynical and that’s not my intent. What is startling though, is to read these sincere comments and then discover that the newly departed’s tenure was less than 12 months!

This has got to be a very costly experience, for the former employer and the former employee.

Is it possible to exhaust all the learning and personal growth that a new job offers, in less than a year? Not likely, so that means something’s wrong. Let’s see if we can figure out what’s happening with this Great Reshuffle by reviewing two checklists!

The Great Reshuffle Employee’s Checklist

If you are considering jumping on board this “Great Reshuffle” Bandwagon, by making a move, or if you’ve already moved and are having second thoughts, here are some tips:

• Don’t let your newfound employee power go to your head – remember that what goes around comes around.
• If you’re being offered a huge pay jump, consider what that strategy tells you about your potential new employer’s culture. Besides, with an out-of-whack compensation package may come high expectations, and a lot of pressure.
• Are the values of your new employer aligned with your values? If not, there will be inevitable friction.
• Are you clear on your Natural Talents – you know, the work activities that give you great energy, that you perform with a high level of skill, and that produce significant results? Will your new duties be a good match for your Natural Talents?
• Is there a strong connection of your career vision with their company’s vision?
• How will your new boss help you continue towards mastery in the use of your Natural Talents?
• And last but not least – faraway fields always look greener! Make a list of what you value most at your current company. What will you miss?

The Employer’s Checklist

Even if you haven’t lost people you didn’t want to lose, consider these tips:

• Do you have a systematic, 3^rd-party conducted exit interview process? All progress begins with telling the truth, so park your rationalizer for this one!
• Remember, people leave managers, not companies. If you’ve had one of your managers lose more than one person, assess that manager’s leadership style, and consider giving him/her some coaching support.
• Do you have a systematic stay interview system and are all your leaders trained in how to use it? Check out the iC3 Stay Interview Template!
• Can you answer a prospective new employee’s question “Why should I want to work here?”
• Do your leaders have a high level of skill at giving contemporaneous feedback, both positive and critical?
• Do your leaders have time for coaching and a high level of coaching skill?
• Have you reviewed your employee engagement assessment process and brought it up to date? Do you consistently act on employee feedback and report regularly to your people?
• Are you making an ongoing and substantial investment in leadership development?
• Have you built a magnetic culture, a culture that attracts high-performance individuals?
• Last but far from least, have you fired the corporate terrorists on your team? What makes this hard, is that the terrorists are quite often highly skilled, but if you keep them around, you risk losing your highest performing and most strongly aligned employees.

Please join my campaign to reduce the number of “This is my last day” posts! Good luck!