POSTED ON 7/6/2022 – Each month 3 to 4.5 million employees quit their jobs, which costs their employers about 33% of the worker’s annual salary to replace them. Fortunately, the bulk of the reasons for such employee turnover is preventable when companies take a truly strategic approach to their workforce development programs.
In taking just such an approach here at Mazak, we revamped our workforce development program by first focusing on some key aspects. Those included job descriptions, compensation and business vulnerabilities along with our efforts in recruitment and retention.
In evaluating job descriptions, the key is to determine the necessary skills and talents needed for each position as well as any necessary training, then focus on the individual employee. When doing so, the goal is to also identify future potential leaders within company.
Part of our planning was not only to look at succession, but also to realize business vulnerabilities per each department. These can include things like age, lack of talent and how to overcome them. This then leads to what actions have already been taken, if any, and what actions will be planned and executed.
Not taking a strategic approach is like plugging a hole in a dam as opposed to evaluating the whole dam to find out why the hole developed and how to prevent others from developing. You have to ask where are the weaknesses and where do we need to reinforce.