Quitters! How many are you still paying?

I just looked up the most popular New Year’s Resolutions over the last few years. The top ten lists I came across vary a bit, but for the most part they are very similar. Most lists included spending more time with family and friends; improving health (reduce stress, exercise more, quit smoking, etc.); improving ones financial situation (get out of debt, make more money, save more); and almost all lists included getting a new job.

Several years ago I read an article in a Human Resource newsletter that suggested that finding a new job was the one New Years Resolution that most responders (more than 50%) failed to accomplish. Of course, this survey caught my attention. You see, the article was written in April, reflecting on the first three months of the year. If you’re an employee I am sure that these numbers don’t seem surprising, or disturbing in any way.

If you’re an employer, there is an entirely different story here. In fact if you are a small business owner, these figures represent the biggest obstacle between where you are today and where you deserve to be. I am not just talking from a business standpoint.

What does all this mean to you? Consider this: Using these figures, if you have 25 employees making an average of $33,000/yr, when you include Benefit packages you are spending almost $1 Million on payroll. If 50% of your people decided in December of last year that they wanted to leave, but stayed through March, you will have paid $125,000 to 12 people who have already quit your company, but continue to show up for the paychecks and benefits.

That is just the tip of the iceberg. My most difficult challenge is also the most painful. It is painful for me, and it is painful for my clients. When people consider bad hires they envision the person who sends his/her evil twin to work on the first day. The person looks and talks like the person in the interview room, but he/she doesn’t act the same. All everyone can say is “who hired this idiot?” The fact is those people usually don’t stay very long. Here is the bombshell – for most companies your worst hire is still there. He or she has checked out a long time ago, yet continues to take home paychecks and benefits.

Want proof? Think of the last few “key people” that left your organization. Considering the overall scheme of your business strategy - are you better off with that person gone? Many Business leaders I speak with tell me “Bob moving on was the best thing that could have happened to us.”

If you want 2011 to bring you better health; more time with your family and friends; help the people that work for you to find a “better” job somewhere else. You will feel better, they will feel better and your company will have a new opportunity for growth.