Gone are the days when a new employee was expected to stay with an organization for five to seven years. Instead, employers are seeing more and more new hires rotate out of the position within just a year or two, and it’s hard to tell who will stay and who will go. After an exhaustive study of the employee life cycle, OPOC.us has discovered the three predictors of employee tenure: Attitude, Gratitude, and Positivity.
Attitude
It’s common knowledge that attitude plays a large role in an individual’s success. And yet, many recruiters are so focused on the hard skills that they fail to give enough attention to the candidate’s intrinsic attitude. During the recruitment process, it’s important to assess how the candidate deals with adversity and failure. Do they take responsibility and grow from the experience? Or do they blame others and resist personal change? A candidate with an attitude focused on personal growth will be one that doesn’t look for an exit the first time they face a challenge.
Gratitude
The relationship between an employee and an employer is exactly that – a relationship. If a candidate doesn’t have a sense of gratitude for the opportunity that the employer is providing and if the employer doesn’t feel gratitude for the employee filling a necessary role in the business, then the relationship will be lopsided and short-term. If a candidate behaves as though no one helped them along the way and that they are 100 percent responsible for their success, then you are looking at an individual who does not have the gratitude factor. Everyone has had help at some point whether it be a teacher, a boss, or a colleague. If a candidate cannot name someone for whom they are grateful along their professional journey, there’s no reason to think that they will be grateful to you.
Positivity
There is no such thing as a position without challenges. They could be technical, procedural, or relational, but every single employee out there has had a “rough day.” Without underlying positivity, a “rough day” can easily become a “rough week” then a “rough month” as they let themselves get bogged down in the negative emotions and fail to see what’s going well. This aspect walks hand in hand with the individual’s overall attitude and is essential in moderating the ups and downs of the workplace.
Individuals with these three factors will stay with an organization longer because they have the emotional skills to navigate challenges, redirect negative emotions, and understand and appreciate the opportunities they have. By focusing recruiting efforts on these personality characteristics, an organization can make sure they are hiring a long-term employee.
OPOC.us is a collaboration of top industry Strategic Planners in the areas of Culture Success, Healthcare and Employee Benefits, Retirement Plan Administration, Risk Management, Business Process Improvement, HRIS Technology, Recruiting and Branding specializing in the delivery of FORTUNE 500 “One-Point-of-CARE” solutions for small and mid-sized organizations.
