Here’s one powerful way to retain your best employees

A young woman at work

A new analysis of LinkedIn data confirms what many HR managers have long suspected: Millennials change jobs a lot. An average of one shift every 2.5 years during the first decade out of college to be exact. That’s double the rate of their Gen X predecessors.

These days, candidates don’t just switch jobs, they often switch entire industries.

The verdict is still out on exactly why all this is happening—a lingering post-Recession hangover, youthful wanderlust, or shifting values. But the consequences, at least for employers, are profound. Turnover continues, and training and recruiting costs remain huge.

For professional roles, training can cost as much as US$5,000 to hire a new employee. And this accounts for neither productivity losses while the position is waiting to be filled nor the time and expense it takes to train a new employee.

Most important factor for Millennials

My company hasn’t been immune to this trend. Though Hootsuite is well ranked by employees in our annual satisfaction survey, we still see a sizeable chunk of our staff turn over each year.

We are losing A players, in other words, because they are bored. Personal development is far more than just a buzzword to Millennials. In fact, according to a UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School study, 65 percent of Millennials say that personal development is the most important factor on the job.

65 percent of Millennials say that personal development is the most important factor on the job.

This doesn’t mean just levelling up an existing skill set. It means being able to explore and internalize different skills entirely and learn something new.

I can relate. As a serial entrepreneur, I know the allure and excitement of moving from one venture to another. But that same dynamic doesn’t always work within a company, where people are hired for discrete roles and are expected to excel within clear boundaries.

For example, if one of our developers decides he or she is bored with coding and wants to pursue a love of blogging instead, that person probably needs to find a new place to work.

Or maybe not.

Stretching employee possibilities

The more I thought about this idea, the more I realized a universal hiring truth. Great employees are great employees. It’s not the particular skill set that sets them apart, but rather their intrinsic attitude, focus, and dedication.

All of these things can transfer readily from role to role. So why not give these exceptional employees a chance to try out new positions within the company, rather than risk losing them altogether?

How we’re beta-testing our new stretch program

Win-win situation