Employees leave a company for a variety of reasons: some of them want to change careers, bigger paychecks lure others, a few are just unhappy, and older workers eventually retire. Whatever the reason, you are faced with an unfilled job, and someone must take the time to replace the missing worker, or you’ll be working around an unfilled position indefinitely.
But replacing a skilled and experienced worker is never easy. The hiring process is time-consuming, and it takes time away from productive work. Also, you’ll have to spread the responsibilities of the departing worker among other team members, which cannot be a long-term solution.
Here are some of the high costs of having unfilled jobs in your company:
Losses in productivity
If you decide to spread the employee’s 40 hours of production among your other workers, those workers will not be able to operate at peak productivity. One unfilled position will mean that the entire department will be at a percentage of optimum productivity. And the longer it takes to replace and train a worker, the longer it will be until you reach peak productivity once again.
Morale issues
Giving them more work can create frustration among your existing employees. They can begin to feel overworked and underappreciated, which can result in resentment. As they are unable to perform their tasks satisfactorily, the workers’ morale could plummet.
The worst part is that unhappy workers may start looking for other jobs, and that, of course, will make your situation even more worrisome and costly.
Lost expertise
Research has shown that, on average, 42% of the skills and expertise required to perform a particular job properly will be known only by the person currently in that job. In other words, if the person leaves that job, their remaining coworkers can’t do 42% of their work, and anyone hired as a replacement will have to learn 42% of it from scratch.
Even replacing a worker has some costly consequences since it can take as much as two years for a new employee to become familiar with the company and duplicate the work of his or her predecessor.
Lost revenue for the organization
If you are a manager, think about how the loss of a talented worker will hinder your ability to hit quotas, shipping schedules, and bonuses. At the organizational level, the effects on customer service and satisfaction could be devastating with severe and long-term consequences.
Do you have unfilled jobs in your company?
Let us help you fill them! Contact the professionals at Select Staff, a top recruitment agency in Dallas, Texas, and throughout the state.
