Talent vs. Patents vs. Employee Turnover

Some older posts get a lot of action... And by the way, today is Sunday. Did you do any dream building? Me too. It was great. Then I took the vRod out through the backwoods... almost at the end of this winding country road, a sport bike flies past me headed East. I was West bound... and quick u turn, and in about two miles I caught up to him. The vRod does very well... nearly as well as my Buell. But I digress. Looking over record hits for the month of August (most unique visitors ever!), I noticed a hit to an older post about IBM vs. Apple. But I have been wrestling with turn over issues for some length of time, and today, they seemed to collide into a new vantage point. Remember my post (and the book) "the dream manager" from January? Case Study: You do the requisite "bitch & moan" session looking for the weakest link in your business. You do the logic trees... and determine the weakest link. Well, 90 days later, you find employee turn over is still well over 100% on an annual rate. Now what? Maybe it is nothing, maybe it needs addressed. Consider the case where we determined the original weakest link was a department head position that had been unfilled for months. So, we filled it... and 90 days later the turn over is still too high in that department.

• Was the new department head wrong for the position?
• Are the core issues outside their scope of control?
• Did you select the wrong constraint?
• All of the above?

Don't you just love multiple choice tests? Look, I preach the 90 day window for a lot of reasons. Most people are willing to give a new manager (or management approach) some time to begin to produce results. Some twisted folks only want to see him (or her, or it) fail. But as a leader, the buck stops with you! People get tired. Especially fighting for the same ground over and over. Its like the poor fellow that thought he had 10 years experience. Seems he had the same one year of experience over and over and over. People are complex, to be sure. But simple victories can move mountains. Maybe you just need a fresh set of eyes. Call me. Together, you will be amazed at the results that await your organization at the end of just 90 days. Of course, without the proper vantage point, you could make matters worse. Why gamble with your future? -ski ---- Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey, Jonah Strategy, Tactics & Execution Dover, OH | Hilton Head Island, SC | Las Vegas, NV Cell: +1 330.432.3533 tag: Eliminate Employee Turn Over ©2008 Throughput.us LLC. All rights reserved.