Job Hopping - Key success factors

In every organization about 80% of the employees are unhappy about one thing or the other. 20% of the folks are happy for different reasons, ranging from personal reasons such as proximity to house and macro reasons such as vision/leadership of the company. This 20% lot would not leave the company unless some shock occurs.

Among of the unhappy crowd, the pain is not so high that they will leave the organization immediately. Typically 20% would leave whatever you do as an Employer. The rest of the unhappy - the 60%,are mildly unhappy but not pained enough will swing between the two extremes. Which extreme is more influential depends on the company culture, some opinion leaders and other signals read by the employees based on top management's actions. This is where the impact of HR is the highest.

On the other hand, each of us, as an employee typically find 20% of the aspects greatly appealing, 20% of the aspects as painful, horrible and ridiculous. There are about 60% of the aspects about which we don't have clear idea or opinion. Based on our personality we tend to rate them either as good or bad. As long as the rating is not based on personal experience we are ope to shift either way depending on situation.

But if something bad happens in the 60% area, there is a great chance that our overall impression goes red and we will decide to leave and even bad mouth. This holds true in all industries but the effect gets augmented based on the industry growth and attractiveness.

As an individual, I believe that job hopping is a necessary evil. It causes loss to everyone including the person changing the job, but sometimes the loss is necessary for future gains. In fact even the organization gets benefited, sometimes if the start performer leaves. Many others who were in the shadow can come out and perform to their potential. Similarly the star moves to a different ground and will have lot of heights to scale.

When deciding to change a job, I feel that the following factors can affect the success of each hop significantly:

1. Future organization's attractiveness: Brand, Industry in which the organization operates, growth, market perception about the company etc.

2. Growth potential: At what level are you joining and what are the growth prospects. If you are joining at a very high level, better be careful and check whether the company is open to change, new ideas and find out the attrition levels. If people are leaving too quick, there must be some reason. If you are joining at a low level, check the average employee tenure. If people have been hanging there for a long time, your growth prospects are low and you will face lot of resistance and competition. In this scenario, it would be better to join at a higher level and better compensation. But if the company is new, you can take some risk and you ca expect to find lot of growth possibilities if you are smart enough.

3. Personal Fit: Depending on your age, personality, past experience and many other factors one tends to develop a work personality. See how well the organization fits you. This may be one reason good people leave good companies in a very short time.

Finally keep in mind that whatever I wrote is based on my experience and observation and is not based on any study.