Sticking around

When people leave where they work, and the market is good, several phrases come to mind:

• rats leaving a sinking ship
• the good guys leave, the bad ones stay
• the grass is greener on the other side

Companies like to talk about engagement scores, retention, loyalty. They are proud when it's high, love to post them when they're good. But when it comes down to it, it's all about cold, hard business. Employers and employees both have opportunities to get up and go where the wind takes them, regardless of engagement levels.

In fact, I have a hard time believing a good score correlates strongly with a low attrition rate. Other dimensions should become a factor. Self-perception for one, which gives a person perspective. Mood, which increases the probability of extreme opinions. Attractiveness of the local environment, which makes scores higher than otherwise, as will respect; sense of belonging; feasibility of goals (likely salary raises and promotions or business growth and revenue).

As always, such an engagement report's findings are valid for about twenty seconds. After which the results are pretty much outdated. For example, such a report does not explain why we are still here.