This led me to reflect on my own working career which has mainly been spent at one employer. And then looking at close friends I noticed that many of them have only worked for a small number of employers in careers that have spanned over 3 decades. One friend was quick to point out that, although he has only worked for 2 organisations, he has actually had 20 different roles. That then got me to doing some counting – I suppose that I have worked for 3 employers and probably had at least 10 different roles. It adds up!
So why do people stay with one employer? The answers vary from the flippant - a lack of imagination; laziness; inability to find the way out; failure of the employer to find out what one actually does (in one of my jobs I had a boss who had reduced this to an art form – he managed always to look busy but actually did nothing) – to the slightly more profound – feel valued; like the environment; part of a community; nice colleagues; interesting and challenging work that makes a difference. The reality is that one employer rarely means just one job. If it does mean this, then something is probably wrong with both parties.
Then I was wondering if this phenomenon is just of historical interest, something that has applied in the past to a few lucky generations and that the modern nature of work means that in the future everyone will be changing employers much more frequently. Would we better off in the new world? It is certainly more uncertain for all concerned and more expensive in terms of the time and money spent by employees in job searching and by employers in recruitment, and the risks involved of getting these decisions wrong.
