True story.  According to a new CareerBuilder survey of more than 2,700 employers and 4,800 workers nationwide, 33 percent of workers said they are likely to start looking for a new job when the economy picks up. 

(Could you imagine losing an entire third of your employee base? That would be like, say your staff was the Jonas Brothers, okay? And Joe Jonas suddenly up and leaves to join another band.  Consider the toll that would take on the quality of…Okay, maybe that’s not the world’s greatest analogy, but the point is, it would be bad.)

Anyway, in the same survey, nearly the same amount of employers (32 percent) say they are concerned about losing their high performing workers in the second quarter of this year (as, apparently, they should be). 

What Makes Good Employees Stray?
Dissatisfaction with pay (32 percent), career advancement opportunities (27 percent) and work/life balance (22 percent) were the top reasons employees gave for wanting to leave their current jobs, an increase from the 29 percent, 24 percent and 20 percent, respectively, who said the same in 2009.  

The increased levels of dissatisfaction could be attributed that increased workloads, longer hours and fewer resources related to the recession may be contributing to higher job dissatisfaction.

What Makes Good Employees Stay?
Understanding what you’re employees want is the first step to keeping them motivated and happy and retaining them.  After competitive pay and benefits, the following incentives topped hospitality workers’ “most wanted” list of employer offerings:

1. Good career advancement opportunities (60 percent)
2. A good work culture (57 percent)
3. Company’s financial stability and growth potential (52 percent)
4. Training and learning opportunities (47 percent)
5. Less stressful work environment (45 percent)
6. Flexible work arrangements (43 percent)
7. Sense of ownership in their position, that they can make a difference (42 percent)
8. Camaraderie, more family-like work environment (34 percent)

Asked what they were doing to hold on to top talent and reduce turnover, employers listed the following:

• Offering more flexible work arrangements
• Investing more in employee training
• Promising future raises or promotions
• Offering more performance-based incentives, such as trips and bonuses
• Providing a higher title without a higher salary

 What is your company doing to keep Joe Jonas in the band retain workers?