Employee turnover is expected to rise next year as a new Right Management survey shows that many workers are unhappy with their present jobs. Sixty percent of employees intend to leave and an additional one-in-four are networking and updating their CVs according to the findings of the US based survey.  

We surveyed more than 904 workers in North America and asked: Do you plan to pursue new job opportunities as the economy improves in 2010?

• 60% – Yes, I intend to leave
• 21% – Maybe, so I’m networking
• 6% – Not likely, but I’ve updated my resume
• 13% – No, I intend to stay

The study provides a barometer of employee engagement in the workplace in the US, with results that might alarm and surprise many employers. And as the saying goes, when America sneezes, we all start to feel a chill in Europe. The study suggests that employees are now expressing their pent up frustration with how they have been treated through the downturn. While employers may have taken the necessary steps to streamline operations to remain viable, it appears many employees may have felt neglected in the process. The result is a disengaged and disgruntled workforce.

The truth is that the best workers are mobile in any economy. We know that people are attracted by career development opportunities, attaining work/life balance and working for an innovative company culture. If management teams fail to provide employees with these opportunities, then people are going to take their knowledge and skills elsewhere. Talented individuals can change jobs because they can and want to, not because they have to.

Leaders need to accommodate different lifestyles and work choices and find ways to balance these with business needs to ensure high levels of productivity and performance. Earlier in the year, we were already seeing a trend emerging for many of our clients, particularly in the professional services sectors, where the ‘employee deal’ was changing, accelerated by the recession. This influences how organisations attract, engage and retain talent. A segmented, tailored and flexible talent strategy will be critical to stem the alarming levels of employee turnover anticipated next year.

An increasing number of companies have been forced to create a new board level role as a result of the economic crisis, according to Interim Partners. This new type of interim manager has the specialist skills to quickly bring stability to an organisation’s finances and is usually appointed to companies with a turnover ranging from £30 million up to £1 billion.

The role in question is that of the Chief Restructuring Officer (CRO), and they are usually brought in as a less disruptive alternative to asking for a change of Finance Director or CEO. CROs have the authority to implement cost cutting programmes, and should have the diplomatic skills to lead negotiations with companies’ multiple funders.

James Harley-Booth, Head of Private Equity of Interim Partners, comments: “In the UK this role would have been created by the credit crunch and the number of CRO placements we have made really started to pick up post Lehman Brothers. In the last recession and even up to the start of the credit crunch this role would have led by a turnaround officer but banks are now demanding that this job function has much more authority, power and independence from the CEO.”

Despite this boom in demand for CROs, Interim Partners says that there are roughly only 100 CROs who have undertaken the role before.