Sometimes I should really give companies more credit than I do. For example, according to a study by MetLife, many companies are still placing high importance on employee retention – even in these bad economic times. Of course, my initial reaction was to guffaw, but it makes a lot of sense.
Even when the chips are down, it's bad business to lose your best talent. When layoffs rear their ugly head, everyone starts to worry – even the all-star team members. Many companies, though sadly not all, realize this too and do what they can to reassure their staff not to jump ship.
Now, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that one company's loss is another's gain. To have an unnecessary brain drain during bad economic times is simply adding salt on the wound.
Another finding from the study is that workers value financial security. We like to know where our next check is coming from. Can you blame us? As a result, we value our benefits even more. To many workers, the benefits are just as important as the check. In this day and age, it seems that health care is a privilege and not a right, so holding on to a job means more than it ever has.
In these tight times, at least there's a win-win action, or mutual fear, on both sides of the equation that (sort of) balances things out for all parties.