Hello this is our Friday blog on tips for employee retention. Remember to join us here every Friday for a new tip. This week, we will discuss the positive impact that work roles and job rotation can have on employee retention.
When an employee decides to leave an organization it is often for reasons to do with satisfaction and career development. Thankfully these are issues that can be changed and mended giving employees a renewed motivation to continue working at the organization rather than going elsewhere.
The Career Plateau and Job Dissatisfaction
The career plateau is when an employee has reached a certain level where promotion has become limited or simply nonexistent. Career plateaus can be the cause of employee stagnation, ineffectiveness, and frustration. Studies indicate that employees may reach a career plateau in three years, or in some cases even sooner. If an employee has learned all they can in their given job, they may become less satisfied with the position and seek new employment opportunities.
Job dissatisfaction can also be a symptom of employee disconnection. Theories on the topic claim low morale can be triggered when employees feel as though they are cut off from the larger purpose of an organization. For example, take the case of a factory worker working solely upon one aspect of the manufacturing line: this worker has no connection to the overall process that they are a part of, they may or may not have even seen the finished product or know where its origins came from, or understand why it is important to the organization.
This is where changing work roles and job rotations can really benefit an employee who is stuck in that career rut. It is a solution that will create change and renew energy and motivation for the employee, which occurs from taking on new lateral challenges and trying something out of the ordinary.
Work Roles
Work roles are opportunities for employees to take on different responsibilities within the organization, such as serving on committees or task force groups. It is a change that can help add a different dimension to their work life. They can offer their expertise in new ways, interact with colleagues that they typically do not work with, and provide useful services to the organization.
Job Rotations
Job rotations are another way to keep employees engaged and learning new skills, where they also learn new expertise and gain valuable insight into how the organization operates. Job rotations prevent boredom and help the employee to engage in career development within the organization.
The potential benefits of job rotations are numerous. Firstly for the organization, job rotations have the potential to increase and build leadership skills, to engage employees deeper into the organization, and to prevent turnover and increase retention. For the individual employee, job rotations can provide job enrichment, career development, and increased motivation for performance.
Getting Started
Once you have a decided to introduce work roles or job rotation programs into your organization, here are some tips that will assist you to get into action:
- Hone in on your goals for the program and define the objectives of the job rotations for your organization. Make sure that there is a need for the skills that will be developed through the programs. Take into account other related initiatives that could compliment or cause conflict to a job rotation.
- Get the support you need to continue at the start of the initiative. Without the support from key stakeholders, these programs could become stranded.
- Pick jobs for the rotation that will support the objectives for the program. Also for each job chosen, identify all skills that can be gained from the position.
- Ensure there is a link from the job rotation program to career development for the employee. For each employee tailor the job rotation to match their development goals and tailor the length of time needed at each rotation.
- Compensate accordingly; compensation should be equitable and motivating but not too excessive.
- During the rotation, measure the employee’s performance to the objectives and check whether there has been value added to their skill set.
- Have a post program plan that will utilize the employee’s new skills.
An Attitude Shift Toward Job Rotations
For many organizations and managers, job rotations have a negative connotation. Rotations are sometimes only used as a tool for dealing with difficult employee situations. Poor performance employees are transferred to another department, or office politics can cause transfers of employees to eliminate the problem or to “get even.” These rotations, particularly the latter, are used as punishments and are not the kind of rotations that we want to encourage because they miss the full potential that job rotations can bring to an organization.
Job Rotations: a Case Study
DBS Bank is a Singaporean bank with expanding subsidiaries in China. Competition for recruitment is stiff, especially since there is already a great presence of big name western banks such as Standard Charted, HSBC, and Citi. To compete and attract high quality candidates, DBS uses a range of strategies including job rotation programs. Not only does this help them to recruit staff, but also to retain staff. Janice Foo, head of Human Resources, says, “DBS encourages staff to rotate across both functions and geographies to give them exposure to different types of banking and to allow them to participate first hand in Asia’s growth story. This internal mobility is helpful in growing cross-functional competencies and developing leaders for all areas in the bank.”
Join us next week as we look into the topic of pay and benefits to help increase employee retention.
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