Kevin Pashuk

7 years ago · 3 min. reading time · 0 ·

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Churn Happens

Churn Happens

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If you've ever managed people, you are familiar with the little tap on your office door, followed by "Got a minute?"

Even if you have an open door policy and this person is in your office regularly, you've come to recognize the slightly hesitant tone in their voice, the awkward, uncomfortable silence after they settle into the chair.

You know what's coming next.

"I've accepted a job offer at another company."

Your inside voice says "Sh*t!!" because this individual is one of your better performers and it's a busy time in the office.

Your outside voice says "That's interesting! Tell me about it!"

I remember once reading that 20% of your team is either in the first year of their employment with you, or the last year of their employment with you.  You know which ones are in their first year.  It's not so easy to predict those employees in their last year.

Employee turnover, or churn, is inevitable for a number of reasons.

I'm not talking about the people who leave because you un-hire them, or those that quit because the work environment is toxic, but those employees that outgrow their position, and you can't provide the next step of challenge.

In small teams, advancing would mean waiting till someone died before a position came open.

So they start to look elsewhere.

Not because they want to.

Because they have to if they don't want to stay in the same position, at the same top of classification pay rate for the next several years.

Here is where leadership skills pay off.

In the scenario above there are two outcomes.

1) Total surprise.  (Hint: This is not the right one). It means you may have spent too much time in your office. I suggest you read the following post:  A (Not So) Subtle Message

If you weren't aware that one of your key players in your team had reached the limit of growth within your organization, there are much bigger problems.

2) Full support for the transition by both you and the other members of your team. While there never is a good time for churn, sometimes it is the right thing to do.  This announcement wouldn't be a surprise if you truly understood your team's personal goals and objectives. You would have already had the discussion around their long term goals, and together you would have been able to honestly agree that you couldn't offer the needed progression.

Planning for Churn

We use a term called "2 deep".  What this means that as much as practical, we have at least 2 people familiar with core systems, network architecture, etc. so that we are never caught off guard when it comes to things like vacation time (you DO take vacation don't you?), family issues, and oh yes, churn.

Some things to consider:

  • If one of your team tapped on your door tomorrow, do you know the projects they were working on, and the current status?  What are the long term projects in the pipe?
  • Do you have a good relationship with HR to be able to secure a replacement as quickly as possible, even if it is a contract position while you recruit?  The 2 week notice period you just received will evaporate in a flash.
  • If you have a number of people leaving, are you sure there aren't underlying issues that is motivating them to look elsewhere? (This is a topic for another post...)
  • Have you scheduled your confidential exit interview.  I usually base it around the questions "What worked well?", "What can I do to make it better for your replacement?", "What are the opportunities in your new position that you couldn't get here?" (Just in case I missed something).  If you have built a good relationship with your team, these sessions are productive and valuable.
  • Get your team together fairly quickly to talk about the transition, preferably before the person leaves.
  • Celebrate the time you got to work together as a team.  I know that for many of you, the idea of an IT department "celebrating" is a marathon session of Star Trek TNG, but I can assure you, we can get randy sometimes... and bring in a big box of Krispy Kreme donuts.

Have I missed any?  Make sure you add yours to the comment section below.

Churn is part of organizational life.  Whether or not it is catastrophic, or an inconvenience is a direct reflection of your leadership. 

There's much more to say, but I have much to do. We have a transition and a celebration to do.

__________________________________________________

Note: A version of this was previously published on my blog: Turning Technology Invisible.

Image: Licensed under Creative Commons

About the Author:

95c67d92.jpgI'm the Chief Information Officer for Appleby College, in Oakville, Ontario Canada, where my team is transforming the delivery of education through innovative application of technology.

I'm convinced that IT leadership needs to dramatically change how IT is delivered rather than being relegated to a costly overhead department.

In addition to transforming IT in my role as CIO, I look for every opportunity to talk about this... writing, speaking and now blogging on BeBee ( www.bebee.com/@kevin-pashuk ) , LinkedIn, ITWorld Canada, or at TurningTechInvisible.com.

I also shoot things... with my camera. Check out my photostream at www.flickr.com/photos/kwpashuk




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Comments

Randy Keho

7 years ago #13

#13
Leaving to work for a direct competitor usually results in being escorted out the door, giving notice is simply a tradition. When I left Pepsi to work for Coke I fully expected to be escorted out the door, I'd seen it before. However, my superiors didn't believe me. They thought I was kidding. When I confirmed my decision they were at a loss for words and told me to just go about my day and we'd talk about it later. When I returned at the end of the day, they told me I could just leave. No escort.

Robert Cormack

7 years ago #12

Good points, Irene. We have become a "warm bodies" hiring complex. #15

Robert Cormack

7 years ago #11

I had that problem for years, Kevin. I was always on call. The only reason the agency didn't have a "two deep" philosophy was because they were too cheap. We were always running around with a million things to do. I think the real trick is to have people smart enough to pick up your work, handling it professionally, without being a relief pitcher. I've seen agencies (small) where everyone's capable of that. But nobody feels like the agency is hedging with two people. It's a subtle difference, but the second example I've given you has kept their employees for years. #12
#1
When I decided to leave Oracle and I told them I was going, they just wanted me out the door that day. I couldn't enter to the garage to collect my belongings :-) If someone turns in their notice, most often we don't want them sticking around for the transition/notice period, they are out the door that day. In my humble opinion, they have their minds elsewhere. One of the issues we face sometimes in the past is about getting all the information they had. Now. the cloud solves this past problem.

Kevin Pashuk

7 years ago #9

#11
The other side to "two deep" Robert, especially on a smaller team, is that people can actually take a vacation without being on call... Especially those responsible for critical systems. ... But I understand your perspective.

Robert Cormack

7 years ago #8

The "two deep" philosophy is a good one, Kevin—but also a bad one. We've reached a point in corporate thinking that everyone is expendable. When we reach that point, it's like a relationship. We're always a little distant. Everyone can sense in—especially the employee. And like with a relationship, that person goes from being committed to being guarded. That's the first thing headhunters look for. When they cold call, they're listening to your voice. When they say, "Have you ever entertained the idea of working somewhere else?" The committed person doesn't have to think. They simply say, "No." The guarded employee will pause. It's the pause good headhunters want. There's leverage. That's how you lose good employees. You can pay them well, encourage them, offer a wonderful working environment, but they know you have a "two deep" philosophy, they're never going to be completely loyal.

Ken Boddie

7 years ago #7

The best ones are the most ambitious and need to know there is an advancement path laid out for them within the organisation. This may need to be reinforced at frequent appraisals, whether formal or otherwise. "Churn lead to chunder, If your staff are left to flounder." But, in spite of good leadership and management, it's always the best ones who move on first. Yes, 'sh_t happens' , but we can avoid an avalanche if we keep the others appraised of their future path and track their performance. 'Closed doors' and "too busy to chat" doesn't cut it with the upwardly mobiles these days.

Paul Walters

7 years ago #6

Kevin Pashuk I always hated that , " got a minute" and when you grant them that minute they kick you in the guts. years of training, investing time and money in them and then they go and sell their souls to a competitor. Oh well these days It is I who does the " got a minute' scenario to editors and publishers for whom I no longer want to work for Onwards and upward but thanks for a great piece as always !!!

don kerr

7 years ago #5

Interesting to gain another perspective Kevin Pashuk, used to target a 15-20% annual turnover in staff regardless as simply a way to keep fresh blood coming in and to prevent complacency. Surprisingly, most of the objective was achieved through natural attrition and or people moving on to better and/or different opportunities so unless we were in for a major bloodletting due to the loss of a client very few terminations had to happen. That was a good thing 'cause I almost puked everytime I had to do one.

Kevin Pashuk

7 years ago #4

#4
Interesting story Randy. In many organizations, there doesn't appear to be an upside in accepting the counter offer given as incentive to stay. After all, if they didn't see you as having that value before, what has really changed? This of course assumes that you have tried every avenue to rectify things before you went out and found another position.

Randy Keho

7 years ago #3

We recently had this situation arise and, like a good corporate organization, it found a way to take advantage of it. Our HR manager wasn't happy with the pay grade that corresponded with her title, so she found another job and turned in her notice. Downsizing has already stripped every department to the bone, so they bumped her up a title, which included a higher pay grade. She told me It was a substantial increase in pay. She was quite satisfied and stayed. At least she was for about a month. That's when they chopped one of the four remaining heads and split the duties between the remaining three, including her. #3

Kevin Pashuk

7 years ago #2

#2
Thanks for visiting Erroll. Even with the best communications between a manager and their team, an employee is not likely going to let the manager know they are in an interview process until they have secured the position. But as I mention in the article, it should NOT be a surprise. In the case I described above, there were several conversations about opportunities for promotion, which in the case of our organization were extremely limited.

Dean Owen

7 years ago #1

Very different story in financial services. If someone turns in their notice, most often you don't want them sticking around for the transition/notice period, they are out the door that day. As such, although we didn't have a "2 deep", we always ensured members of the team could take over responsibilities without a hiccup. All part of BCP/disaster recovery processes (having learned our lesson through 9/11, Taiwan earthquake etc). We also had mandatory 2 week continuous vacation where access to systems/email etc were terminated during the time off. In a way it is harsh (ensuring nobody is indispensable), but had to be done. On a sidenote, I've always been a proponent of a healthy 20% turnover rate per annum, again harsh, but necessary.

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