Executive Level Talent Prepares to Jump Ship!

May 3, 2011 - PRLog -- San Jose, California. The recently released ExecuNet Executive Job Market Intelligence Report strongly suggests that a majority of executive level talent is preparing to launch a successful job search. Fifty nine percent of executives believe their resume is recruiter ready and 72% recently updated their online public profiles.  The expectation of high levels of executive turnover is causing many companies to focus on talent retention with new fervor: 51% of executives report that employers are working harder to retain top talent through 2011. This threat of high levels of executive level talent turnover is especially scary for small to medium-sized companies to which the impact of losing just one top-performing executive can disturb customer relationships and reduce productivity and team morale to the point where overall performance is affected dramatically.

According to the ExecuNet Report, the top indicators that will trigger executives’ job searches are as follows:

1.  Receiving calls from recruiters
2.  Poor organizational performance
3.  Hearing about others finding success and landing new jobs
4.  The industry’s improved prospects
5.  Seeing more job ads
6.  Better stock market performance AND Real estate market rebound and more homes selling (tie)
7.  Improved unemployment rates

To me these reasons show that there is a “grass is always greener” factor at play in a major way here. I would caution executive level talent to consider internal role shifts/negotiation before looking externally for other companies to work for.  I think there are many reasons why staying in their current company can be of benefit not only to the company, but to the executives themselves. The following are some reasons that I thought of, but I am sure the list doesn’t stop here…

1.   Already have established connections and know the leverage points
2.   Comfortable in the work environment
3.   Already know the flow of processes intimately
4.   Less stressful than completely uprooting and re-rooting
5.   Can leverage willingness to start an external search for better benefits package, compensation, or a more senior position
6.   The economy is improving – staying until your company is thriving again will be better for your reputation
7.   The benefits of a known commodity apply for you and HR at your company

Do you agree that it makes sense for executive level talent to seek new jobs internally first?  I’d love to hear any stories you may have about internal executive role shifting and how it turned out in your company. Visit our corresponding blog at http://upmo.com/blog/?p=348 to join the conversation.

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About UpMo:
Employees Rule. UpMo provides the industry’s first employee-centric enterprise career management solution to emerging and large organizations. By helping people plan, pursue and manage their careers in a way that benefits both them and their companies, UpMo SaaS solutions help companies embrace employee mobility to dramatically increase productivity, reduce employee churn, and improve employee engagement. Visit us at www.upmo.com.