Part of my role responsibilities is onboarding new people into the Sales organization, which is made up of different sales functions, including, direct sales, partner sales, renewals teams, sales operations and other support roles. On top of this, I try to include other relevant stakeholder groups as I can, as it is beneficial for people to get a wider view of the organization and how their role interacts with and affects others. This is not my entire role, but it is a significant piece of it at times.
There are many parts to this process and there is a lot of interaction across the stakeholder map, but what is encouraging to be part of over the last few years, is just how many people Come back to the company after some period away. As far as industry standards seem to go and especially in comparison to the US, the average tenure at this company is good, meaning that employee retention and satisfaction is high. For instance, supposedly developers at Google last just over a year on average - which is incredibly short.
The numbers from 2022 out of the US show the trends.
The average across all industries is 4.2 years with the same company. For reference, my fifth year starts in January, and I am a relative noob in the company compared to many. The thing that brings the average down the most, is the growth of the employee base, which has increased another 50% since I started, which had increased by 50% in the two or three years prior to that. At some point, it slows down however, and then the average tenure will climb, as long as employee satisfaction remains strong.
As you can see from the chart though, in the last decade, the average tenure has significantly decreased in nearly every industry, except Mining and Agriculture, which is likely due to decreasing amounts of jobs in those industries, where the more experienced stay, but the jobs replaced by automation aren't filled. This is something to consider when looking at employee churn, because some of it is process-based due to technology and need changes, not only because an organization is poor. However, in general, employee retention is a good indicator of the health of a company.
And there is more to retention than salary, with opportunity for personal and professional development, as well as factors like the company tech stack and ease of process among the often cited reasons for people leaving, or staying. It is far cheaper in the long term, to put effort into developing and retaining good employees, as well as helping them develop into the company further. A lot of companies still see their business like a production line of worker skills, when most IT companies for instance, have far more porous skill models involved, where there are plenty of overlapping possibilities.
For the company I work at, I believe that one of the heavily contributing factors is that there is a strong referral culture for employment, where people will refer candidates they believe will be a good fit for the role and the culture. This creates a trust matrix between stakeholders involved in the hiring process and the applicant, as well as gives those who are successful a nice starting boost in terms of reputation and network. Then, as they build their own social capital and proven track record, they become a trusted node in the network also, which helps attract and onboard new candidates for specific roles.
A lot of companies seemingly have a "perform or out" policy in regards to their employees, without necessarily considering the company role in providing an environment for high performance. As said, there is much more to it than an attractive salary package, because that salary doesn't do the work, the person does and for most, working for salary alone will not drive high performance for very long. These days, worktime flexibility is a big factor, which people have translated into "working from home" when it needn't be that. The company I work for has always been flexible, and little has changed.
What has been interesting for my to reflect on as I participate and observe onboarding activities, is what inspires people to be their best. The money is a necessary factor where it has to be "enough" for the job, but the bigger component for motivation seems to be the interpersonal interaction between colleagues, where people feel a sense of responsibility and commitment to the people they work with. And, since this isn't one of those "go through the paces" kinds of positions, people have to be flexible in many ways for others, because they are going to need others to be flexible for them at times too. This is why establishing a strong internal network is so valuable, and one of the reasons that many will suffer if they don't do this, essentially ostracizing themselves from the support they need.
I think that if I were to move to another company, I would ask what their employee retention is like, because if they are unable to keep employees for some reason, I would want to know what my chances of staying there would be. At my "age", I am not interested in moving from job to job every couple of years for more money and instead, I would prefer to be somewhere I can grow my role and responsibilities through developing myself and the company. Tying my future to an organization is risky, but is it riskier than continually starting somewhere new? Eventually, the carousel stops, right?
There are many reasons for the enormous change in retention numbers, but I think a large part of it comes down to the shifting culture, where people are unhappier faster than they were in the past, so leave. While this might make things better in the short term for the individual leaver, in the long term, it is a trend of high employee turnover, which leads to continued degradation of the workplace environment, which will accelerate the process even faster.
While there are many ways to improve employee engagement and retention, money isn't a good one, as any company has to offer it. Ultimately, it comes down to the competitive advantage of the harder to achieve factors, like a valued culture and professional social network, as well as a toolkit that enables people to be more of their best and deal with less of the rest. To do this requires making significant investments into aligning processes, responsibilities and encouraging an environment where people value each other, not only the job they do.
And I think this last one is a big part of why so many of us don't enjoy our work, because we don't feel that we as a person are valued, even if we are doing the job well. "We" are not our jobs, so pretending that all we need is to complete tasks is counterproductive, because if we need to feel valued, we should also be making sure we value others. How do you show appreciation your colleagues?
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
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In my organization, I like to show appreciation in acknowledging that each person has their strengths that make them more valuable to the company than their role. That and I allow each to be themselves and not have to pretend to be someone else when working.
It is interesting to me that the current generation of workers are a little more fragile than the last where inconvenience and challenge are enemies rather than the reason they have to be paid to work. If it was easy and fun, you wouldn’t get paid to do it! I suppose it is a sign of the times.
Funny that I usually lasted 4 years at each sales job I had for the most part. Some were shorter but that was due to having to select the highest paying gig to make it worthwhile and sometimes discovering a bad culture, unsellable product, or an amazing one which lead to that company being purchase and the turmoil that comes with that.
If people have an inkling of what it takes to succeed and know that progress is made outside of the comfort zone, I have time for them in my company.
It is like they are continually looking to find excuses not to work. They need "perfect" conditions, as if that is a thing.
Yep. These people need to get nurtured and it should be part of the company culture to do so, rather than spend the resources on people who will never be happy.
Well, I think low salary would obviously affect employees' performance as in my company today. As living in Istanbul costs much more than ever, many people found another work or left Istanbul. Except salary, they look for companies which have hybrid model (at least two days from home) working and demand it during the interview. I think this is one of the most important thing to have high performance from employees nowadays.
Low yes, but adequate doesn't. And, a high salary has very little effect, though it can breed entitlement issues.
I think most professional positions have hybrid models, unless it is impossible, like for factory work and onsite needs.
Of course, I meant for corporate companies.
We have been having a lot of turnover at the school where I work over the past decade or so. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that we are small, so we don't have the budget as some of the bigger districts. We are also in a kind of remote location, so people don't appreciate the commute.
I thought Covid might have sent some people your way, looking for a change from the cities.
Nah, the weed facilities haven't even brought them in.
Interesting what you say and I was surprised to read about Google because one imagines that people would never leave that company because they are supposed to pay very well, which assumes that the good working environment and valuation keeps people attached to their jobs, there is intrinsic motivation, however I think some companies do not value their staff because part of the valuation is money and there are companies that pay as if we were doing a favor and that our time is not worth, I say this for mine, so soon I will hone my wings to fly.
Most will always complain about what they get paid, but I wonder how many people have really done the math on what they are worth to the company?
It sounds like you have a crucial and multifaceted role within the Sales organization. Onboarding new team members is a pivotal responsibility as it sets the foundation for their success and integration into the company
It is crucial, but unsure how much it is valued at times :)
To enjoy it do it like a hobby.
I started my career in sales and has stayed with one company for over 14 years. I would have been happy to resign from that same company. But needed a higher pay. The next company i worked for I only stayed for 1 year hehehe. Sometimes its not all about the money. But the culture of people surrounding you and the environment that makes an effort to improve their workplace.
I think people are just trying to survive and a lot of people (including me) consider a job as a way to pay the bills. I do agree that having a passion for the job will make things way more fun and I think a lot of people just like having work from home. While it may not always be the most productive, it just feels like people have more control over their lives. It takes time and money to commute over in person so i always feel like it was a chore.
I would not like to say that survival is hard but it is the truth. I work in one of the most expensive high schools in Nigeria and now, a lot of kids have been withdrawn from the school because they can no longer pay the high school fee and this is happening everywhere
I think less conflict in work place, incentives, health cover and also being nice to each other often works out in the companies. Like it worked for Zapos. I still don't think that all companies can have that. In that context I would say not everyone can be lucky for a good workplace. I just don't expect much these days.
It is good to know that you are in a good company. I do agree that employee turnover is a big indicator of how healthy/nice the workplace is. With regards to Google though, I think a lot of people just use it as a stepping stone. Their high turnover rate might be the result of that. In the IT industry, having Google in your resume is a big deal.
One of the things I always look for in a new role is the opportunity for professional development. If I'm going to invest my time working for a company, I want a company that is also willing to invest in me. If I really want to grow with a company, I need to make sure the company will also help me grow into bigger and better roles. Without professional development, my skills will get stale and I will eventually need to be replaced by someone with new skills. But if I'm part of a company that values me as a person and is incentivized to keep me on board, it is for our mutual benefit that they take the time to develop the talent they already have instead of looking for that talent outside of the organization.