RISMEDIA, Jan. 29, 2008-(careerbuilder.com)-Planned, intentional employee rotation will have many positive effects on your business and employees. Encouraging employees to rotate into different roles every few years contributes to knowledge sharing, exposes workers to new challenges, and helps to develop employees’ careers.
Part of running a successful business is understanding what it takes to remain innovative and fresh with your ideas. Staying on top of the market, understanding your customer’s needs, and more importantly, understanding how to get the most out of your employees. Sometimes the latter requires some innovation on your part. This is where employee rotation is important for maintaining a hands-on approach to managing your company.
Employee rotation, as defined by answers.com is, “a practice which allows qualified employees to gain more insights into the processes of a company and increase job satisfaction through job variation”. Plain and simply, employee rotation is a strategic approach to managing your employees that keeps your company fresh, progressive, and successful.
A Change of Scenery Can Do an Employee Good
Experts recommend moving employees to a new role every two years. This length of time provides adequate time for your employee to gain experience and have an impact in the position.
Experts recommend moving employees to a new role every two years. This length of time provides adequate time for your employee to gain experience and have an impact in the position. After two years, the employee should be ready to move up a level from their role, or to take their corporate knowledge and experience to another part of the company in a lateral move. A strong familiarity with operations in various parts of the company increases an employee’s potential for success in any role. Employees who rotate into new positions every few years stay fresh with new ideas.
Do not look at employee rotation as a way to unload your trash on someone else. If you have a bad employee, do not send them to another manager in your company. Take the appropriate action to eliminate weak performers.
Employee Rotation as a Retention Strategy
Employee rotation is also a very reliable technique for improving retention. Employees who feel stagnant in their job will passively search for a new job. Many recruiters target ‘passive job seekers’ because they have fresh competitive knowledge. By encouraging rotation, you are promoting personal growth and substantially reducing the chance that an employee will become a ‘passive job seeker.’ Employee rotation improves morale, increases your employees’ effectiveness, saves your company’s recruiting dollars, and helps to keep your employees away from your competition.
Employee Rotation Turns to Greater Productivity
Each time an employee rotates into a new role, he or she gets a new challenge and set of responsibilities. The employee brings increased internal relationships, a new perspective and a fresh drive to succeed. When those factors converge, your company receives a big boost from within.
Another benefit is that the employee brings invaluable experience gained while in their previous position with your company. Knowing how different functions of the company operate often provides interesting insights into how the employee’s new position can be more effective and efficient.
Another benefit is that the employee brings invaluable experience gained while in their previous position with your company. Knowing how different functions of the company operate often provides interesting insights into how the employee’s new position can be more effective and efficient. If the position they are moving into was created, the employee can offer more ideas than if they were brought in new. The end result is a pipeline of fresh ideas moving throughout your company.
The goal is always to do what works best for your business. In most businesses, a defined employee rotation program will substantially improve long-term success. Make sure your employees understand their options and have easy access to internal job postings from various departments of your company. If you have not yet instituted employee rotation, be proactive and make strategic employee rotation part of your normal operations and business culture.
