Why Do Your Best Employees Quit?

I’ve been thinking about the Champlain College Workforce Development Center’s Online Human Resources Workshop “Finding and Keeping the Best People” beginning in a few weeks and wondering why good employees leave seemingly good positions and move on. Is there one overarching theme, or a wide variety of reasons? So, as a good librarian, I did some research. What I found left me with more questions than answers along with some skepticism.

Posts from consultant’s web sites lean heavily on bad management behavior as the top reason employees leave. That may be true, but when the next sentence proposes their management coaching program as a solution, I begin to question the research.

Posts that rely on information gathered from exit interviews also leave me wondering. Are most people really honest with human resources during an exit interview? We have all had it drilled into us to “never burn bridges” that I seriously doubt any valid conclusions can be gained during an exit interview.

Also, I’m not convinced that people are really, truly honest with themselves about why they quit. It is a lot easier and safer to say “another company offered me more money or a promotion” than admitting a personal or organizational failure to yourself, family, and friends.

Obviously, there is more than one answer to this question, but one thing is certain. Keeping the best people first requires finding the best people; this means making sure there is a good match between the job and the applicant. The position must make the best use of an individual’s skills and abilities.

Ask yourself these questions?

Hiring managers – Are you truly honest with yourself and the applicant about the position, expectations and organizational culture?

Applicants – Are you truly listening to the hiring manager to determine if the position is a good fit for you, or are you just focusing on “winning the job”?

What are your thoughts on “Finding and Keeping the Right People: HR Best Practices”? Tell us what you think and join our online conversation by enrolling in this workshop beginning November 1. For more information and secure online registration, visit http://www.go.champlain.edu/hrsentry.

Management Excellence - It takes training

It is extremely rare for anyone promoted into a management position to suddenly become manager extraordinaire as soon as the new title is bestowed. A good management training class is critical for success by providing a so-called management toolkit, which enables a new manager to build sound management practices and create high functioning teams. As this video demonstrates, managers have a lot to think about. If you have been promoted into a management position on the basis of your technical expertise and performance, a management training class is essential - insist on getting the training you need for success!

Google Talk

Have you heard about Google Talk? Steve Shepard, international telecom expert, living right here in Vermont, talks about it on his 7.5 mins podcast. It's worth a listen. Keeping up with the latest technology can have a real impact on your ability and effectiveness as a leader.

When are social media tools an important part of an integrated marketing plan and when do they lose their impact? Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook, mySpace...the list goes on.

How do you find information online and how do you know it is current and factual?

How do you navigate and filter the tsunami of information available on the Internet and find reliable content that aligns with your values as a business person and community member?

How can you use technology to create an environment of transparency and knowledge sharing that promotes creativity, trust, and innovation?

These are all critical questions that require thoughtful investigation. This conversation is happening on a daily basis in Burlington, Vermont by hundreds of people at a time by social media and technology experts, business leaders, educators, elected officials and community leaders. Join the conversation and learn how to connect technology with effective leadership practice.

Welcome to the Champlain College Workforce Development Center Blog

Welcome to the Champlain College Workforce Development Center blog.

Champlain College, founded in 1878, is a small private college located in the beautiful Hill Section of Burlington, Vermont, overlooking Lake Champlain. If you've ever visited Burlington, you know what a beautiful and vibrant community it is. We are lucky to live and work here. If you'd like to share the experience, please visit us (www.vermont.org.)

The Workforce Development Center is located within Champlain's Continuing Professional Studies Division and was established to meet the workforce challenges of businesses and organizations. At Champlain, we understand the complexity of running a successful enterprise and we deliver programs that directly impact quality, productivity and professional/technical development while improving the bottom line (www.champlain.edu/workforce.)

At the Center, we partner with private companies and international societies to deliver certified education and training that is ahead of the curve. We help businesses and organizations remain competitive in the global marketplace. One example of this is our Online Marketing Boot Camp that we offer in collaboration with our partner EpikOne (www.epikone.com.) We just ran our third boot camp on campus last month (www.ombootcamp.com) and hope to run more in the near future. People traveled from across the country to attend. Our keynote speaker was Avinash Kaushik, the Web Analytics guru.

We also provide internationally recognized certified training in digital forensics, CCE BootCamp,(www.go.champlain.edu/cce) taught by industry experts every quarter.

Need more support as a manager? The second round of our Management Excellence Seminar Series (www.go.champlain.edu/management) will launch on September 12th. This series is targeted to new and recently promoted managers who need additional training to reach their full potential as team leaders and front-line supervisors. We also found that experienced managers who needed additional support also attended when we first offered the series in May 2008.

Finally, we will be offering a two-day Executive Leadership Technology Summit - Business Agility through Technology on September 10 & 11 (www.go.champlain.edu/leadersummit) in collaboration with Vermont Business Roundtable. Steve Shepard, internationally renowned telecommunications expert, (http://www.shepardcomm.com/) will lead the Summit with his brilliant presentations. Steve, who is a Vermonter, has delivered this training in over 70 countries and he finally offering it at Champlain College in his backyard! CEOs, COOs and other senior level managers are encouraged to attend.

That's it for now. Please let us know if you'd like to learn more. Our contact info is below.

Melissa Hersh, Director Cathy Brotzman, Project Manager
(802) 865-5402 (802) 865-5471
hersh@champlain.edu brotzman@champlain.edu