Dealing with employees' New Year's resolutions

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"How managers and employers respond to these New Year's new yearns will determine whether 2014 is a year of success or disappointment for their business," says Kay Vittee, CEO of Quest Staffing Solutions. She says that learning to identify the warning signs of which staff may yearn to change their working situation is the first step in managing risk.

People who have been doing the same job for a long period of time will understandably be suffering from boredom fatigue. Despite the temptation to keep these people just where they are, because they perform so well without supervision and demand on your management, there is a real risk that they do not feel that their work is being recognised and have become tired of the monotony.

High-stress environment

Staff who perform in high-stress environments facing the constant onslaught of financial pressures, customer service demands, challenging time-lines, safety concerns or any such stressful requirements, may be worn down and incapable or unwilling to subject themselves to the strains of these situations any longer.

Long hours, take-home work, weekend work, cancelled leave, travel commitments and other demands that steal time from family and friends put enormous pressure on staff trying to balance their work demands with their personal demands. Often causing real problems in relationships and families, this work-life imbalance is unsustainable and despite the threats to their personal relationships, burnout is a real risk too.

Staff performing well

Staff who have consistently performed well, achieving and exceeding targets may feel unrecognised and that their efforts are not being rewarded quickly enough either through remuneration or promotion. These staff are, by nature of their accomplishments highly sought-after and may be head-hunted or approached with alternate employment opportunities.

"As a manager you are faced with the challenge that most people view career success as vertical - climbing the corporate ladder, a quest to move higher and closer to a position of management. However, the reality is that today's companies, although still hierarchical, are less vertically structured and there are not enough positions of management to satisfy all staff's aspirations," says Vittee.

Horizontal movement

To overcome this problem, Vittee recommends horizontal movement. Horizontal movement can be defined as staff movement across different company departments, taking on new portfolios, usually at a similar status level and with similar responsibilities.

"Although not being promoted to a position of higher status, employees who are moved horizontally within their place of employ will gather new skills, adding to their resume and making them more attractive candidates for vertical promotion. By experiencing different departments, different working environments and doing different tasks and learning different skills, employees may discover new talents and find their own niche.

"The employer benefits from the improved productivity, increased skills and better morale horizontal movement can offer. This is also an ideal way to identify talent and utilise strong skills and experience in mentorship programmes," concludes Vittee.