Yesterday I related some of the ways morale was being destroyed at a friend’s workplace. After a bit of investigation, I learned the changes will cause at least 15 employees to leave – twenty percent of the workforce. And that’s just to start.

One of the reasons the company wants to make changes is to save money. Yet they’re looking at the budget and ONLY the budget. They’re not taking into account the cost of replacing 20 percent of their workforce (again - that’s just the ones who will leave right away!)

Due to the high cost of training required for these positions, it runs approximately $40,000 to replace an employee.  That means replacing 15 employees will cost them at least $600,000.

And that’s just the initial load. As 20 percent of the workforce leaves, morale will sink further. Other employees will soon get “the bug” to leave. In the end, it may wind up costing the company more than $1 million in the first year alone just in replacing those who don’t want to deal with the drastic changes.

Leaders and senior mangers instituting change as a cost-saving effort need to get their heads unstuck. The cost of replacing employees does not have a line item in the budget – and because of that, many decision-makers over look them.

Think, people!

 PS - Due to the nature of the work involved at this company, it’s VERY likely that lawsuits will emerge as less-qualified (and less-caring) employees make mistakes. All it will take is one good lawsuit and whatever savings the company hopes to make will be wiped out.

Again — they need to THINK before they act!

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Filed in Business, Motivation, Management, Leadership, Workplace, Corporate Culture, Retention