Carrots, Not Sticks

Even once they’ve succeeded in piquing a potential employee’s interest, however, companies still need to ensure they’re making the right hire. The human resources industry has developed sophisticated computer programs to analyze every aspect of a job candidate’s background, as well as rigorous interview processes that often involve a battery of skill and personality tests.

“There’s so much good coaching for how to interview and how to do a résumé, so most people look really good,” Darrow said. “In the recruiting industry, it used to be that we couldn’t find enough good candidates. Now there are too many, and the problem is they all look good. Now it’s not as much about finding people, but about the assessment to make sure we get the right candidate. There’s always going to be 5 or 10 or 15 candidates who could do the job. But we don’t want to just flip a coin.”

The most in-demand recruiting agencies these days, he said, are those that don’t just bring in a group of candidates, but actually help the company pick the best one for the job. Once they’ve selected that employee, companies may find that he or she defies stereotypes about millennials being difficult to work with. Although they may seem less loyal to the company than their older colleagues, millennials can actually be extremely dedicated workers if properly motivated.

Zero is Not the Goal

One last thought from a couple of the experts: While turnover can be expensive, it’s also important to realize that an optimal level of turnover is not zero.

“If a company retained all of its employees, it would not be dealing successfully with poor performers,” said Professor Judge. “Some performance problems simply cannot be fixed, and it is important to have new and fresh perspectives. I’m not suggesting that turnover ideally should be high for most organizations, but I am suggesting a goal of zero turnover is not only infeasible, it’s unwise.”

“People immediately think turnover is a bad word, and that’s not always the case,” Darrow said. “I started my career at PriceWaterhouseCoopers, and high turnover was expected. It was an ‘up or out’ kind of firm. If someone isn’t right for the com- pany, if someone isn’t engaged, then you either need to get them reengaged or you need to help them move on.

“To me, the word ‘retention’ implies that we need to retain everyone, and that’s not always true. The better word is ‘engagement’ — for as long as you have them, how are you going to keep them engaged?”