I was talking with my parents a few weeks ago, and in the past, Dutch people would get a decoration from the king (or queen) when they would be employed 40 years at the same employer. 40 years! Take a few seconds to think about this, 40 years with the same organization. How many people do you know who worked for 40 years or more for the same organization? I bet not that many.
As an organization, you should assume people will leave your organization within five years. And set as a goal, that when they leave, they will be better and happier professionals as to when they joined. Richard Branson said once: “Train people well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough, so they don’t want to.”
I agree with this quote.
Firstly, about train your people well enough. Train them more than well enough! If people want to leave, lack of knowledge of experience should never be a reason why they can’ t find another job. Also, it is not just about training, make sure people also gain experiences, visit conferences, switch roles, in short: give them all the opportunities they want to grow as professional.
Secondly, you could set up a golden cage, that will make it impossible for people to leave your organization. Pay them a lot of money, give them a Tesla, and huge bonuses. But it should be about intrinsic motivation. As you probably know, money can also be a motivator. Money is an extrinsic motivator. And that is OK, you probably don’t work for free. But the golden cage. It should be about intrinsic motivators. You don’ t want to leave because you really love your job, the freedom, things you can learn, etc.
How does your organization look at training and motivation? Are you getting all the opportunities to learn? Do you feel hindered by lack of experience or knowledge when you want to leave?