Jumping from one job to another

Lal Fonseka Productivity Consultant, Brandix Lanka Limited

“Always strive to build a homelike atmosphere at work that is warm and friendly.” This is the fourth principle of Toyoda, the inventor of Toyota Motor Corporation in Japan who had remarked some decades ago. There are altogether five principles involved which have been highlighted as the secret behind the success of Toyota Motor Corporation. Throughout his life, Sakichi Toyoda believed in and lived by the three maxims of labour, gratitude and service. Although ordinarily a man of few words, Sakichi would often drill the importance of teamwork into his staff, saying, “Entrepreneurs, managers and staff must all work together.” He encouraged his subordinates with comments like, “Let us give it a try,” and, “Do not be afraid to make mistakes,” mottos he himself put into practice.

He reminded those working under him that even the smallest things have their proper place and must be valued. Even after he became company president, he could often be seen picking up nails, bits of cotton or anything else that might have fallen onto the factory floor.

Sakichi always maintained a sense of gratitude, not only towards members of his family or those who helped him, but also towards society as a whole. He believed he owed his success to the world at large and that it was important that Toyota be of service to humankind by working in good faith, not purely for monetary gain.

A work environment is made up of a range of factors, including company culture, management styles, hierarchies and human resources policies. As we already know, employees are the greatest assets of any organization. Employee satisfaction is the degree to which employees feel personally fulfilled and content in their job roles. Employee turnover is the rate at which employees leave their employers, whether voluntarily or involuntarily. Any organization carries a high labour turn-over shows very low satisfaction of employees.

The three distinct concepts as highlighted above are inseparably linked; workplace environments greatly influence employee satisfaction, which in turn directly affects employee turnover rates. Knowing how to use a positive work environment to increase employee satisfaction and reduce turnover is a key to developing a high-performance workforce.

However, a few researches have identified the following three causes for the high labour turn over or jumping from one place to another.

Personal causes:

Workers may leave organizations purely on personal grounds. These may be due to Death, Family problems and responsibility, Personal betterment and Retirement. In Sri Lanka, this seems to be somewhat questionable as we find that when an employee is confronted with a problem of the above nature, he or she will always be more and more attached to the employment as he knows that retaining the current job is the top priority to get away from the problems that he is likely to undergo in the future.

Avoidable causes:

These causes can be avoided if leaders take some effective steps. Avoidable causes could be highlighted as follows.

Poor wages -?One thing is very sure. No employee is prepared to work for a lower salary than the market rates. If the company is willing to pay a salary plus attractive welfare benefits, employees may think two to three times before taking a decision to leave the organization.

Odd working hours - This is also another area one has to address carefully. Jobs that require longer hours are inflexible and put people in tense situation. These types of jobs lead toward highest stressful careers. As most people found working 40 or 45 hours per week can bring a lot of stress into one’s life, they prefer to leave such working environment. Working much and being in wrong field can add to that stress even more so. You should truly love your work and excel at it to not be bothered by a high stress job. Continuation of working in odd hours will definitely encourage people jump from one to another in short periods.

Lack of training - It is important that both enterprises and workers benefit from improved productivity. Training is a must in an attempt to improve the labour productivity in organizations. Women may need encouragement and incentives to take advantage of training opportunities if they cannot see how they would benefit from training, they would refuse to take part in the training sessions. Lifelong learning has to be encouraged. Training becomes a part of the everyday routine. The old idea of a few knowledgeable people hoarding secrets is replaced by the will to learn and to share all that we know. The power is now based on the mutual respect and not in the hierarchical assignments. Leadership substitutes for authority and positions represent our levels of responsibility towards the people in all the other jobs. Lack of training will also encourage people look for better jobs.

Lack of good recruitment policy - Recruitment in nutshell is placing the right person at the right place and right time. When this happens, people will start working happily in the same place.

Bad working conditions - Please refer the Toyoda’s fourth principle shown at the beginning of this article.

Un-avoidable causes:

In certain circumstances it becomes necessary for the management to ask some of the workers to leave the organization. These circumstances may be as follows:

Disablement
Discharge on disciplinary grounds.
Discharge due to continuous illness.
Inefficiency and negligence
Voluntary Resignation
System
Pilferage, theft, dishonesty
etc
Personal Respect

Personal respect for employees at all levels of a company is an integral part of a positive work environment. Personal respect in the workplace encompasses such issues as discrimination based on age, gender or ethnic background, sexual harassment and the role of personal politics in forming workplace relationships. In general, the more personal respect employees are given at work, the more satisfied they will be in their jobs. A lack of personal respect can cause employees in high-paying positions to quit their jobs, increasing employee turnover. On the other hand, an abundance of personal respect can cause employees to overlook lower salaries due to increased inner satisfaction.

Growth opportunities

The degree to which companies offer personal and professional growth opportunities for employees plays into the overall work environment. Opportunities to learn new skills, take on new responsibilities, achieve higher compensation and gain new positions can allow employees to set and work towards goals, conveying a sense of personal achievement that boosts employee satisfaction. Employees rarely prefer to remain static in their careers for long. Rather, most people continually look for opportunities to advance. Providing these opportunities can keep your employee turnover levels under control, as employees stick with you for longer to achieve their personal and career goals.

Management styles

Different business owners and managers utilize different management styles. Managers can be collaborative, working alongside subordinates to accomplish tasks. Managers can be facilitative, stepping aside and making sure that employees always have the tools, materials and information they need to do their jobs. Managers can also be coercive and overbearing, micro-managing employees’ every move. No single management style is better than another. The best management style for any given situation depends on the nature of work being performed, and the needs and preferences of employees doing the work. It should be in your thought, word and deed. What needs to be understood is that relationship management cannot be practiced at the manager’s desk. The first step that one has to take is to go and get things done. Fitting the right management style with the right situation can increase employee satisfaction, keeping turnover rates low.

Company culture

The concepts of company culture and work environment can be easily confused, but there are distinct differences between the two. Put simply, a work environment is the result and product of a company’s distinct culture. Company culture includes elements such as the way in which conflicts are handled, the freedom to try new things and fail without consequences, dress code policies, pre-dominate communication styles and other intangible details.

Like management styles, no company culture is inherently better than another. Company cultures must fit with their employees to increase job satisfaction, or else employees may look elsewhere to find a workplace better suited to their personalities.

Guiding principle number five of Toyota Motor Corporation is shown below and these principles show us as to how this particular guide line has supported Toyota to keep their employees engaged in a lifetime employment. “We respect our employees and believe that the success of our business is led by each individual’s creativity and good teamwork. We stimulate personal growth for our employees. (Guiding Principles 5)

We support equal employment opportunities, diversity and inclusion for our employees and do not discriminate against them. (Guiding Principles 5)

We strive to provide fair working conditions and to maintain a safe and healthy working environment for all our employees. (Guiding Principles 5)

We respect and honor the human rights of people involved in our business and, in particular, do not use or tolerate any form of forced or child labor. (Guiding Principles 5)

Through communication and dialogue with our employees, we build and share the value “Mutual Trust and Mutual Responsibility” and work together for the success of our employees and the company. We recognize our employees’ right to freely associate, or not to associate, complying with the laws of the countries in which we operate. (Guiding Principles 5)”