Slowing the Turnover Carousel

Just a generation ago most people spent their entire careers at the same company. Today employees are likely to work for 5 different companies… before they’re 40.

The debate about why this is happening is rich, but for today, lets look at the “so what?”

This month we’ve been talking about legacies, your legacy, and challenging you with the question, “What do you want to be remembered for when you leave the workplace?” As difficult and disruptive as the turnover carousel is for companies, it also presents you with a perfect opportunity to build your legacy. You may be one of the only people at your company, or in your department, who has been around since the beginning and who fully understands the rationale behind key decisions and how core values really get played out.

Here are a couple of ways you can blend your desire to leave a legacy with your company’s need to “slow the turnover carousel.”

Blacksmiths Do It; Carpenters Do It…Should You Be Too?

Throughout much of human history, formal education has been a difficult thing to come by for most people. It wasn’t until the 19^th century, when public school systems and universities began to pop up, that formal degrees and diplomas signifying that a person has the skills and abilities to work in a particular profession became available.

Yet, there has always been a need to educate and pass on knowledge. Blacksmiths, carpenters and farmers have historically taken on apprentices, or taught their own children their craft so that knowledge and skills would continue on, and each community would ensure that there was at least one person who knew how to perform crucial functions.

Man In Motion

John Hansen was a budding athlete in five different sports with dreams of being an Olympian when, tragically, he suffered a spinal cord injury at the age of 15, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down. Rather than suffer through the injury as most people would do, Hansen turned the tragedy into a new avenue to master. He worked through rehabilitation, graduated high school, and became the first person to graduate with a physical education degree from the University of British Columbia. He helped his teams win national championships in wheelchair volleyball and basketball, and competed for Canada in both the 1980 and 1984 Paralympics, bringing home a record six medals in racing.

In 1985, having already mastered the world of Paralympics, Hansen embarked on his most audacious journey yet, mastery of the entire world…literally! With fellow British Columbian Terry Fox’s Marathon of Hope as his inspiration, Hansen started his Man in Motion World Tour, a 26-month, 40,000 km journey through 34 countries to raise money for spinal cord research. Despite little media attention when he began, Hansen arrived in Vancouver’s BC Place Stadium on May 22, 1987 to cheering crowds, and with almost $26 million for research and quality of life initiatives raised.