Q. I joined Blue Company three months ago. Since then my department has experienced a 40% turnover. I can see why. It’s disorganized and outdated. Our boss expects us to put in long hours to do meaningless work.
Time to leave?
A. Maybe.
The key question seems to be:
Are these departing employees reacting to a situation that (a) has happened recently, (b) is unlikely to change and (c) will affect you personally?
If circumstances changed shortly before you were hired (e.g., a merger or new CEO), you may be part of a new wave. You actually will benefit from these events.
Or maybe these departures have nothing to do with the company. Suddenly your field has opened up and recruiters have raided your group. If that’s the case, you may be in a position to raise questions about your compensation – always a judgment call.
Or you may be seeing the beginning of the end.
For example: I once worked for an organization with a truly incompetent department head. Unfortunately for him, employees in his department were highly marketable. One by one, they took off. They were hard to replace.
We thought the situation would go on forever.
But following the departure of 2 particularly valuable employees, management asked the department head to accept a lateral transfer. They promoted a well-respected employee to be the new manager until an outside search could be completed.
Bottom Line: We’ve all heard the saying about rats deserting a sinking shop. But is the ship really sinking? Has a new path to dry land just opened up? And can you find a safe corner that’s well-stocked with cheese — and nobody else is around to demand a share?
The thing to remember is – what’s best for you and your career? Often it’s hard to gain and keep perspective when a lot is going on. When you spend energy worrying about the conditions of the job, you get more frustrated and just doing your job becomes a problem. Generally you’ll do better to work with an objective, experienced professional. You’re guided to think through the situation in terms of what makes the most sense for you – not anyone else, not even the job. Click here to learn more.