Management-Issues ran a piece on March 9 with the title, "New hires seek a quick divorce." The piece looks at three pieces of research that study why and when people quit.

The findings of one study, by Novations Group looked at early exits. "Whether you call it "job shock" or the "six month itch", the fact is that a significant proportion of employees head for the door almost as soon as they have walked in, with many organizations losing as many as a quarter of their new hires within the first year" 

That's scary but there are really two issues here.  There are hiring failures.  In those cases your company hires the wrong person and he or she leaves almost immediately.

I remember a case from my corporate days. One of our distribution centers hired a young man as a management trainee. On his first day on the job he seemed overwhelmed by the pace.  He went to lunch and didn't come back.

Most people who've worked in larger organizations have seen similar situations.  In a way, they're a necessary corrective to hiring mistakes.  My guess is that they're more common in companies with strong cultures like Nordstrom's or Southwest Airlines. 

But hat's not all the research is telling us. It also tells us that we don't do such a hot job of keeping people engaged.  

A study by Kenexa makes the point.  "The survey of more than 840,000 workers in multi national companies found that for the first six months, the vast majority – nearly three quarters – are generally excited and engaged about their job. But from month six through to the eighteenth month, satisfaction levels decline sharply, and by the end of their second year, many are actively looking for pastures new."

Some of that is hiring failure, but I suspect that even more is supervision failure.  Your immediate boss is the person with the greatest impact on your engagement, job satisfaction and productivity.  Bad bosses drive people away.

The solution to this problem is simple.  It's just not easy.

Improve the selection and training of the people who are responsible for group performance in your organization.  Get some of the best ones and make them the boss that new hires experience first. 

Wally Bock has helped people learn to be great bosses for more than a quarter century. His latest book, Performance Talk: The One-on-One Part of Leadership, makes learning key leadership principles almost effortless by teaching through a story and providing lists of resources for further growth.

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