I’ve been at my new job now for six months. It’s the first commute that I’ve had in years. I used to walk to work and then I worked from home for over a year. I’ve become one of those weirdos that listen to the radio in the mornings. Not the music on my phone, but the radio! Specifically, 100.3. I get in the car right at 7:30 AM and the station hosts a game called Mind Bender. Dom reads off a statistic of something going on in the world today, usually relevant to holidays or what not, and listeners call in to solve for X. This morning, the question was: 20% of people admit to being distracted at work because of what? The answer: They are looking for a new job.
Turnover is something that every company deals with. You might be the best-voted company on Glassdoor, but people are still going to find reasons to leave. People leave for higher pay, better benefits, more responsibilities, fewer responsibilities, a better work environment. Recruiters and HR must stay on top of these trends. How much PTO do my competitors provide? Do my competitors have better shifts? Easier steps to move into a management position?
It can be difficult to tell if your employees are happy or not. You might be able to find some vent sessions on their social profiles, but for the most part, people are good actors. You think all your employees are happy in their roles until they ask if you have a few minutes. Now, one of your best workers is putting in their two weeks, and you have to fill their position without losing out on too much time.
So, you’re wondering how you can prevent turnover? There are many ways. Hold meetings where your employees can be verbal and honest. Provide a suggestion box, where the entries are anonymous. An extremely effortless way to learn about which of your employers are ready to head out the door is by going on Indeed and looking at resumes of people who currently work for your company. I’ve learned that if someone joins LinkedIn, it doesn’t necessarily mean they are looking for a new job. They might be wanting to hire people for their company, or they want to reconnect with their college roommate. If someone joins Indeed or recently updates their resume, they are looking for a new job. So here’s what you do:
- Go to Indeed
- Select Find Resumes at the top
- Select Advanced Search under Find Resumes
- Type in your Company name under Company of latest job
- Select Find Resumes
- Select Sort by: Date
I blurred out the names and profiles of people, but I can tell that at least five people at my company have updated their resume over the past six days. With this, I can dig into my pipeline and see how I can fill their roles when they leave. I also won’t be blindsided when I’m told that I have a new position open. I can help reduce time-to-hire this way and save money, as well. The other thing I can do is sit down with this employee and ask what we can improve to keep them there.
I understand that this can be awkward. You can sit down with an employee and say: “I saw you updated your Indeed resume. What can we do to make your stay here?” You can sit down with the employee and casually ask, “How are things going? What are you liking? What would you like changed?” There are going to be times where that employee is leaving no matter what. They might be relocating; they might have an offer they can’t refuse. They might be ready to move on, and they can’t be sold on staying. However, it could be something simple. Maybe they can’t work Saturdays anymore. So, you consider your employees and their schedules. Someone else can’t work their Tuesday shift anymore, so you switch their two shifts, and you have two people who stayed within your company. Maybe they want a promotion, but don’t see one in their near future. And you know their supervisor is moving into a new role soon, and this person can take their spot.
I live out in Colorado. I’ve been here for over three-and-a-half years. One of the only reasons I’m out here is I updated my Indeed resume, and my boss asked me about it. I went to one of the only colleges in the country that requires internships. Because of this, I was always told to keep my professional presence as relevant as possible. One day, my manager pulled me into her office and told me she saw that I recently updated my Indeed resume.
“What are you not happy about here? What can we do to get you to stay?” she asked.
“I’m happy here,” I told her. “I’m just keeping my online presence as strong as I can.”
“Well, while we are here, what is one thing you could change,” she said.
“My lease is up in a few months, and I have no interest in moving closer to the city,” I blurted out.
“We need more people to help start up our Denver office. Want to move there?
“Sure, let’s do it.”
Instead of moving 20 miles south, I moved across the country. I started a great life out here in Colorado. I have a great girlfriend, two dogs, I’ve seen Lil Jon four times in concert, I’ve made friends and seen things that I would never have seen if I didn’t update my Indeed resume.
So, set resume alerts for your company. Every morning, you will have resumes show up in your email letting you know who might be about to leave your company. Engage with these people. Find out why they are looking somewhere else. You will either be able to get them to stay at your company, or you will be able to stay ahead and start preparing to fill their role.
