Over the past two weeks, a small company that I have a partial ownership of and no real operational duties, posted a job on INDEED for a part-time, commission only installer position.
When posting a similar advertisement in the 3-4 years immediately prior to 2023 resulted in maybe 1-4 responses over a couple of months. However, this time, June 2023, we received over 120 responses with at least 15 being fully qualified and 7 being approved for a second interview. My first reaction to the number of applicants was thinking that the US Unemployment rate must be much higher than is being reported.
However, about the same time, I saw a report on a GALLUP, ‘State of the Global Workplace 2023 Report” with a headline of “51% of Employees Are on the Lookout for a New Job”. After seeing this headline, I began to reflect back on the 120 resumes I scanned recently, and I recall that most of the applicants were currently employed.
I’m not sure what to make of these two different types of evidence other than to draw the conclusion that employees are, by majority (51%), not happy in their current job, or with their current employer or manager. From my experience, these 51% of employees either don’t see a career path with their current employer or their current employer/job is just not a good fit for them. Even if this 51% does not leave to take another job opportunity, an even bigger issue remains with having a person on payroll who is not fully engaged and doing their best at what the company is paying him/her to do.
Company Leadership, talking about and showing the employees a career path can be addressed fairly quickly. This can be done during a routine “1 to 1” coaching session or more formally. The issue of “company-employee” fit is a longer term and more serious problem to fix.
What causes an “company-employee” fit issue? It starts with the interview process. During the past 4-5 years, when it has been very difficult to find employees, small business owners and managers (even large businesses) have struggled to fill open positions. This often leads to relaxing hiring practices and in a lot of cases, rushing the hiring process.
The hiring process of screening, interviewing, validating background and prior employment, and determining if the potential employee is a good fit for the company culture is sometimes cut short when the business desperately needs to fill open positions on the team. The hiring process is where “company-employee” fit should be discerned and communicated. A strong VALUES system that molds the company culture helps determine if the particular candidate “fits” the company’s culture. If the employee doesn’t agree with or does not get excited about the VALUES of the company, there is much more likelihood of being a “fit” issue down the road or from the start. A pro-active, energized VALUES foundation drives a strong company culture and a strong company culture keeps employees engaged and motivated!