The Current Job-Hopping Scenario- A Complete Explanation

Job hopping is a trend seen among employees' changing workplaces. Job hopping is spending less than two years in a position.

According to a Gallup survey, half of U.S. workers follow the work market or actively search for a job. Six in ten millennials are open to fresh work opportunities.

There has always been a negative stigma attached to the term 'Job Hopping.' HR managers have always had an unfavorable perspective regarding the employees' frequent changing of jobs, and why not?

• Employee turnover has a direct influence on the revenues and profit of the organization.

• Replacing an employee is itself a costly affair. Employee Benefits News states that replacing employees costs 33 percent of their salary.

• A high turnover rate can result in low morale for employees. It could result from pressurized workers who have had increased workloads and responsibilities.

• Lower productivity and poor quality of work may result from a breakdown in everyday activities. It may be due to an overall low number of experienced workers.

Why is job-hopping so common?

According to Gallup, there is one most common reason why employees take a new job. It's because they choose to do what they do best. The desire to earn more money often affects the decision-making of many job hoppers.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than one-fourth of American employees left their jobs in 2018. It is 40 million or 27 percent of the total working population. When asked the key reason for voluntarily leaving a job, only 17 percent cited inadequate compensation or pay.

But HR managers must understand that most employees hop for one main reason. It is when they feel enough chances are not being given for them to be their best.

The days of choosing a candidate casually to fill a role in your business are gone. You can't expect them to stay if you don't have a plan for keeping them.

They no longer have to apologize for job-hopping. So managers should not only hire the best talent but also build a strategy to keep them engaged.

6 Tips For Managers To Handle The Job-Hopping Generation

Relook at your employee engagement

As most hoppers leave for opportunities and not just for cash, you can do a lot to reduce this form of turnover. The vital thing to do is improving the employee engagement scenario in your organization.

Employee engagement has been the current mantra of most of the progressive organizations. But what most organizations have not realized is that they are doing it wrong at some point in time. Employee engagement is not always about the employees' conscious participation in the 'fun-filled' activities organized by employers. It is more than that.

It is about the feeling of belongingness that an employee wishes to have in the organization. It's high time for employers to understand that deficiency and work on it.

Job Hopping is the perfect example of the repercussion of employee disengagement in an organization. What follows is the journey of hopping. They jump through opportunities in a range of diversified organizations until they land down upon the most favorable employer of choice.

If one cannot adapt to the organization's ideals, that person's survival will be at stake. What organizations need to understand is that the idea of 'fun' varies from person to person. Only an integrated approach to employee engagement can act as a catalyst in retaining employees.

Plan retention while hiring

Many employers have built policies and tactics for how to keep their current talent. However, for their new employees, how many employers consciously prepare for retention? Too often, hiring managers in today's tight labor market is only attempting to grab eligible candidates for their vacancies.

Related article- 8 Top Employee Retention Factors

HR managers must look into culture fit, career development opportunities, and team building while hiring. It would help if you did a total evaluation of the candidates that go way beyond their qualifications and work experience. Understand their soft skills, industry-specific skills, and their long term career goals.

It is also essential to recognize the transferable skills necessary in the position. And then, ensure that you correctly assess the capabilities of the applicants in the required skills. There needs to be a holistic approach for organizations struggling to find the right candidates. It can surely enable skilled young people to find the right job match.

Thus, through your hiring techniques, you can solve the retention issue.

Recognition

According to a TINYpulse report, 21.5 percent of workers who do not feel recognized look for other opportunities. It is relatively higher as compared to just 12.4 percent who feel recognized.

So what does it all mean?

It could be a quick message with a strong takeaway, a public announcement of achievement, or just a thank you note. In short, any recognition matters. You can call it praise, gratitude, or a positive employer-employee relationship. Feeling valued makes a massive difference between employees' leaving and staying.

Build meaningful relationships

Let's understand this, considering some facts related to our heart and brain. For any emotional human being, the heart decides before the head. When your heart controls your thoughts, you make most decisions based on what your heart says.
So, you should better engage the heart in creating meaningful relationships in the workplace. Give your employees a heartfelt reason to stay with you.

'Friendship' seems to be a great employee motivator, just like pay and benefits. Sixty percent of employees would be more likely to stick with their boss if they had more friends in the organization.

Provide work-life balance

The fact is, if you don't offer work-life balance as an employer, most employees today know that another company would. Particularly millennials seek a profession more associated with their core principles, passion, and work-life balance improvement. This generation has stated that they will take a pay cut for an improved quality of work life.

Strengthen your feedback culture

Employee feedback is a burning necessity to remain on track with the desired growth and development. Schedule recurring feedback sessions with your employees. The days of annual reviews are gone, and the days of regular feedback are here. Arrange frequent meetings to discuss projects and ensure that your employees get the support and feedback on time.

This continual feedback not only helps them track their career progress but also builds personal connections.

How has Job-Hopping Changed In 2020?

A few years ago, you might have heard this statement from almost all the large and small recruiters. Employees were terrified to even look at the idea of finding new jobs. They would settle for the current position for their whole life.

Scared of switching jobs! But why?

Recruiters had the notion that those who changed jobs frequently were unstable in terms of their personality. It might turn into a risk for the organization as a whole.

With the Millenials jumping onto the job sector now, things are taking a new perspective. The negative stigma attached to changing jobs is gradually depleting. Hopping jobs to climb the corporate ladder has become the current trend among the millennials.

Related article- Understanding Millennials in the Workforce

The entire job market of today is different. It's the candidate's market. As per the Harvard Business Report, there are three things that employees want nowadays. They seek for career growth, community, and cause.

They do not accept stagnation and look for new challenges and higher goals. If that growth opportunity is not provided or is not provided fast enough- candidates don't think twice before looking elsewhere.

Nowadays, short-term positions have become more common and more welcoming. Millennials are always looking for better opportunities in terms of knowledge, job positions, and remuneration. Based on this reasoning, an ideal organization for today's employees must be a 'learning organization.'

As a result, recruiters have become more liberal and considerate towards this concept. They have to gear themselves up to face the current winds of change. They now have to learn to deal with candidates who have a history of job-hopping.

Creating an engaging company culture with a free flow of knowledge and information is a suggested way of retaining employees. This new wave of change in the thought process has brought a positive light into the concept of 'job-hopping.'

However, candidates who change jobs only for the sake of a higher salary should not take unfair advantage of this change in perception.

Why consider hiring a candidate with job-hopping history?

Job hoppers can bring value to your organization. Let's know-how.

• Job hoppers are also outstanding performers with a unique skill set. They change organizations because they are searching for better opportunities at an increased pace.

• Job hoppers have dynamic abilities and can quickly learn new skills. They have risk-taking skills. They are self-confident and are highly adaptable to changing work environments, management styles, and people. In short, they are versatile employees.

• They are used to a high growth curve and can quickly scale up and participate more easily.

• Job hoppers from the same industry have a valuable view of how other businesses operate. They have a network of ties outside the organization.

What to look for before hiring a candidate with job-hopping background?

Making assumptions that job-hopping automatically means someone is not a worthy candidate is just as bad as assuming all millennials are inactive or all baby boomers are digitally inept.

Before deciding on hiring or not hiring a job hopper, look for the following.

• How many jobs did the candidate change within a given time-frame? In the first 18 months after college graduation, if the candidate had three jobs but held the same position for the next two years, those first changes might have been part of the discovery process. It is possible that now the candidate has a much clearer career path.

• Were the jobs with increasing levels of responsibility or not?

Job-hopping to the same position, in the same market, to relatively the same size company is a red flag.- Tim Sackett

• Were the job placements in different locations? It can be a result of family relocations or simply a sign of flightiness.

• Turnover is expected in specific industries, such as IT, so it shouldn't be shocking. So, the industry you are hiring for matters too.

• After going through their CV, ask the candidates about their frequent moves. Listen carefully to what they say. Dig deeper. Ask follow-up questions whenever possible.

This article is written by Susmita Sarma, a digital marketer at Vantage Circle. She was involved with media relations before shifting her interest in research and creative writing. Apart from being a classical music buff, she keeps a keen interest in anchoring and cooking. For any related queries, contact editor@vantagecircle.com