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Page 1 of 2 >The daily problems an IT manager has to solve are so diverse that it is hardly possible to classify them in order of importance or difficulty. But one of the recurring problems that managers in many companies face is turnover of people. For some companies turnover of staff is a chronic disease that causes more trouble and leads to more problems than any other issue, including competition or market changes.
Turnover is bad for business because when valuable people leave, the gap due to their absence cannot be always filled. Although there are no people (no matter how talented or important they are) that cannot be replaced, practice shows that very often it is difficult to find an adequate replacement on time and to have smooth transition. This is a managerial problem in any sectors, not only IT, although in other businesses it might be much easier to find with less concussion for the business a replacement for people who leave. But when employee's skills, knowledge or personality are important, finding the right replacement can be tricky. Even in businesses that do not demand so many skills and knowledge from their workers, turnover impacts business in a negative way. For instance, waiters and cooks are valuable “assets” because very often clients are attracted or repulsed more by the personality of the waiter or by the meals the chef prepares than by the brand name or the furnishing of the restaurant. In such cases when a “star” waiter or cook leaves, part of the clientele goes away to the new place where the waiter or the cook starts work, thus stealing clients in addition to making the work process more difficult for his or her previous employer. Well, for IT companies it might be a bit better – at least a former employee of an IT company cannot steal customers if there are long-term commitments from existing customers or if the clauses in his or her contract forbid working with current company customers but the skills gap left behind him or her might be absolutely enough. In any case, when people leave in bulk, this is a symptom and there is food for thought about the (real) reasons that make them do it. But if people are not leaving, does this mean that they are satisfied with their jobs, do them properly and everything is fine? Should you happy that you have the most loyal employees in the world and that your business will prosper? If turnover is a symptom not a cause, when there are no symptoms does this mean there is no cause? It is equally important to know what the real reasons for leaving the company and for staying with it are. It could be that everything is fine and that is what keeps your people with you for years. In fact, it is not a rare case. But it is also not an exception that lack of turnover is a symptom of another disease. People are not leaving not because they are satisfied with their job or are loyal to the company but for a more prosaic reason - no better or no any other opportunity. If this is the reason for having them with you, you might have more grounds for anxiety than for happiness. Although when asked directly what they like in their job, people return answers like: “It is a challenging job.”, “I like the team and the management.”, “It gives me satisfaction and prospects for personal and professional development”, “My company needs me and I am eager to stay as long as I am useful”, you need not believe all this. More or less, these answers are politically correct and they are what you expect to hear. Such answers are intended to please your ears and even if they are true, there might be other reasons, in addition to the statements below, that have been stopping many people from leaving. As I already mentioned above, one such reason is lack of no other or no better opportunity in the short-term or in the long run. If people stay with you because of no other opportunity, this can be due to several reasons:
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