10 reasons to stay in a job

Are you caught in a revolving door? Staying in a job for extended periods can bring greater success and respect at work and benefits on the home front too.

When we looked at the newest data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, released in mid-September, what we found was quite alarming.

As of January 2012, the median time that wage and salary workers in the US had been with their current employers was just 4.6 years. Other recent data points are equally disturbing: The staffing company Randstad says that 40 per cent of employees are planning to look for a new job within the next six months. Another survey notes that 69 per cent of employees are already at least passively shopping for new job opportunities via social media today.

Clearly, statistics show the majority of employees at every level are unhappy enough in their current positions to be actively or at least passively considering new jobs.

As business owners, we have big incentives to do all we can to keep our talented people around. But beyond our own motives, we think it’s often good for employees to stick around, too. Here are the 10 reasons why we think executives and employees need to think carefully before making a jump:

1. Seniority: Executives who remain at a single company are able to rise in seniority, rather than having to compete for a stronger role at each new company as they go.
2. Leadership opportunities: With seniority comes the chance to lead others and mentor newcomers through the transition to their new jobs. Executives who build loyal followings are naturally upheld by their teams, rather than having to defend the authority they’ve been given in a new firm by decree.
3. Stability: If executives are perpetually moving, it’s difficult to make long-term plans. A little stability in career and workplace can help them cope more effectively with the stresses that are sure to occur within the rest of their lives.
4. Homeownership: Job hoppers pay a high price in home equity. Every job change that requires a move will also enact a high transaction cost to change homes, which is never ideal outside of chosen opportunities to move to a more suitable home. Stability is also appealing to banks – lenders look more favourably on prospective borrowers who’ve held consistent jobs for longer periods.
5. Increased benefits: Executives can achieve more lifestyle goals with long-service leave and the extra stock benefits long-term employment can bring.
6. Self-Improvement: Executives who show the resilience to address their weaknesses rather than jumping ship and blaming their discontent on former co-workers and bosses may often be further ahead.
7. Dependability: An executive who is willing to stay the course for 10 or more years (which is typical in Japan and other European countries) demonstrates a level of dependability that companies will generally reward and respect.
8. Flexibility: Most people who stay at a company for a decade or more progress through multiple increasingly challenging roles while they’re there. They typically try their hands at a variety of roles to help determine what they’re most passionate about. The difference between moving within a company and moving between companies is that executives are able to retain their status and benefits while also being free to experiment and try some new things.
9. Perseverance: It’s easy to quit over perceived unfairness or serious challenges. But it shows much stronger character to persevere, to find and enact solutions to problems, repair damage, and to take an active role in turning a situation around. (However, anyone who works in a genuinely toxic corporate environment should absolutely take their leave, as quickly as possible, and move on.)
10. A say in the company’s future: An executive can have a positive influence on their company’s direction if they’re willing to stick with the organisation through good times and bad.

This is true for our company, and it’s especially true for the opportunity we’re beginning right now. Our team had a very direct role in buying ownership of our company back from a former investor in May of 2010. We’re in the process right now of granting stock options to nearly half of our employees, and many more will receive shares within the coming six months. Now the employees and management own the company. Stock option ownership is based on behaviors that align with our 7 Non Negotiable principles, which you’ve heard us mention before.

In essence, we’re creating opportunity for our employees to engage as entrepreneurs at every level of the company, without the risks or the drawbacks of founding a start-up firm on their own.

We’re working hard to give our employees good reason to stay with our company for the very long term, if not for life. We hope and believe we’re far from alone. But regardless, given the many solid reasons for staying the course in a single company, shouldn’t you take a second look at staying put in your own current job?

David K. Williams and Mary Michelle Scott are CEO and President, respectively, the paired leadership team of Fishbowl, provider of Fishbowl Inventory Software, and one of Utah’s and America’s fastest growing companies. Fishbowl is based in Orem, Utah.

Harvard Business Review

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