As an Organization Development professional, we must take all possible factors into account when dealing with the various causes of an organization’s turnover rate. Whether that turnover rate has increased or decreased we must take all factors or reasons into account to either replicate those factors if the turnover rate has decreased or eliminate those factors if there is an increase in employee turnover.
In a recent article, “This Is When You’ll Quit Your Job” it is mentioned that people will “quit” their job after attended a reunion or other such milestones in a person’s life. Now I have heard of someone reaching 50 or 60 and questioning their career choices, and possibly quitting their job to move into their “dream” career that they have wanted to try out for years. Even with that reason the actual attempt or percentage of such attempts do to this reason is so low it is really a non-factor. Furthermore, I have never heard of a high or college reunion having the same effect upon a person deciding to change careers.
To isolate this as a factor alone I did the poor man’s research method and googled it and poof ….nothing! Nor have I heard this as one of the many employment urban legends, meaning it is not a story that I have ever heard before unlike the employee hitting an age milestone and moving into a new career. Now that I do not have to research at all, I have about three family and friends who are stating they are moving to an entirely new career at a certain age.
My point regarding this article as an Organization Development professional are these factors that we should take seriously when calculating an employee’s risk of turnover? Or would taking in factors of one’s age or the time of their high school reunion simply discrimination? If a determination of one’s high school reunion becomes a factor in a formula to determine an employee’s turnover chances, highly unlikely, but IF it does, how does NOT attending the reunion factor into that percentage?
Tracking the chance as the article states your willingness to change careers after you have been with an organization for a certain amount of time, is possible and totally legal, but tracking employees or collecting data for such career changes due to age or one’s high school reunion (which could be tied to age) could be damaging for the organization or the employee, As I aforementioned this could mean legal consequences for the organization if they use this factor in determining future turnover rates, what other issues you think may arise from using this type of outliers as data for turnover predictions? Personally, from an OD standpoint, I think clearly this should be left alone.
Money.com (2016) “This Is When You’ll Quit Your Job” http://finance.yahoo.com/news/llquitjob120017492.htm
