Photo by Debby Hudson on Unsplash

Most business owners are careful not to overspend by hiring people with only a decent skill-set in hopes of training them to become experts in the long run. But if the U.S. is any indication, this approach couldn’t be more wrong.

When making career moves, Americans don’t look inside their organization for an opportunity two switch lanes. Instead, they look into the offerings of other companies. 93% of U.S. adults report leaving their employer to change roles, a pattern that is as true today as it was 30 years ago. Less than one in ten employees (7%) look internally for a new shot at consolidating their career.

Losing someone who was at least decent at what they did is detrimental enough to a company’s bottom line. Having to replace a talented worker is even worse. How bad exactly is hard to measure on a general scale, but those who know their company well should be able to assess the impact based on the following:

Expenses related to turnover – it can cost up to 150% of the staffer’s annual salary for high-level roles, or as much as $150,000 for a position that paid 100,000 a year;

Damaged team dynamics – needs no explanation whatsoever, simplest way to put it is that the unique expertise and contributions of that person will affect the dynamics of the team(s) left behind;

Remaining workers get burdened – someone now has to do his / her job;

Cultural gaps – losing any longstanding worker means you have one less person who understands the true values and cultural intricacies of the organization;

Process repeats itself – probably the worst part of turnover is the vicious circle it creates, forcing you to hurry to fill a position and end up with a hasty choice yet again.

Looking at the negative effects of having to keep recruiting to stay afloat, one thing becomes immediately clear: hiring top talent from the start and striving for retention sounds like a cheaper and more productive alternative, even if that means shelling out a few extra bills upfront. It’s also how we recruit here at 4PSA. But unlike most companies, we see as much talent in skills as we do in character 🙂