Staff turnover and the job market

Sep 30, 2014 Editorial

One columnist commented recently on the high turnover of staff at two establishments which he patronises and pondered on the reasons for this anomaly in those businesses’ employment practices.
First of all it might be interesting to know exactly what is the rate of attrition at those places. Since that data is not available maybe some reasons may be adduced to arrive at an understanding of this phenomenon in a contracted job market. At the outset it should be recognized that with the emergent large scale retail stores and malls employers might be recruiting staff to meet increased demand during peak shopping seasons then release them when customer needs subside.
One school of thought suggests that employee separation at certain work places is a function of poor employer work ethic; another claim is that some employers have the habit of separating their employees after only a short period of engagement to avoid fulfilling certain basic employer obligations in terms of employee benefits.
Both views have credibility since it is virtually inconceivable that after expending time and effort to hire and train people that they would be let go at three-month intervals in a manner reminiscent of a revolving door. The fact remains that a company stands to lose time, money and other resources associated with replacing those employees who have departed.
And depending on the nature of the company’s business it is likely to lose clients through mistakes by new employees. It may be also be argued that the lower the job satisfaction the higher will be the collective employee turnover particularly in a negative work environment.
One does not get the impression that the frequent turnover is linked to ambitious and high potential employees actually being driven away because those qualities are being stifled. Low paying jobs in what could be considered modern versions of sweatshops would be attractive to poor performers, poorly trained employees or those possessed of obsolete skills which render them unemployable.
Employees lacking in ambition and drive will persist in these types of employ precisely because the level of effort is too much to seek other avenues of gainful employment. Some may be tolerant of bureaucracy which means that they do not get frustrated and leave as a result of slow internal movement and bad management practices.
Among those occupations with high turnover which a casual observer would not fail to note are gas stations; customer service and call centers; and retail sales. Some call centers would give raises to try to retain employees while others indulge in immediate reward schemes like weekend outings at recreational resorts.
One drawback is that those outings can never be a substitute for structured employee self-development programmes. One peculiar observation is that unskilled jobs in this country do not suffer the level of turnover seen in other places probably because the unemployment pool is so large and the available employment of this nature are not competitive in terms of wages.
However, when some of these workers satisfy their immediate material needs they tend to move on to other unskilled occupations which in most cases are low paying.
Another anomaly seen locally is within the public service which unarguably is not a high paying sector, but again because of the limited alternatives public servants are seemingly content to remain focused on advancing their career options.
The possibility that employers in high turnover businesses are gaining through not fulfilling their statutory obligations with respect to employees’ national insurance payments on behalf of the National Insurance Scheme, not to mention ensuring that income tax deductions are made for onward transmission to the Guyana Revenue Authority.
The silence on the part of the relevant authorities on the issue of high employee turnover in certain businesses indicates an unconcern of the implications associated with non-compliance with local industrial practices.
Furthermore the seeming nonchalance by employers in the affected entities suggests that losses which might be occasioned elsewhere by high turnover factor are not applicable in the local context. It might also be argued that employee departure either voluntary or involuntary, benefits the employers who do not have to worry about developing strategies to attract, recruit and retain specific skill sets and competencies.

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Staff turnover and the job market

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