Time to move on - again

Changing jobs every one or two years was once highly frowned upon, but not anymore.

"We certainly see a lot of people moving frequently," says Steve Kennedy, sales and operations director for Kelly Services New Zealand. "We see a lot of people coming through in certain categories who have a lot of employers on their CV."

Kennedy says job hopping is prevalent in sales and marketing, call centre and customer service roles. With the mix of generation-Y culture and a booming job market, younger workers are not going to stay in these roles for the long haul.

"It's just different today," says Kennedy. "It's not any better or worse."

But most employers are still from the older generations, which traded loyalty for job security.

"Employers certainly want people who are stable. It does have an impact when you look down at an individual's CV and see that they've changed employers every 12-15 months over the last five years."

Job hopping may not be totally accepted but it is recognised as an option. Employers don't want their customers to constantly have to deal with someone new and they certainly don't want the expense and hassle of having to constantly recruit.

"But it may not be a total mistake to hire a job hopper," says Kennedy.

"They certainly bring experiences from their previous employers. If you can harness that knowledge from those individuals when they come on board, you can use those experiences that might be relevant in your business."

For a worker wanting a variety of jobs, workplaces and cultures, now is the time to explore.

"If they've got some experience, if they've got a good attitude, if they're prepared to invest their own time in training and development then there is an environment out there where opportunities are in abundance and employers are looking for people. They've got it made."

But even if you're job hopping, you do need to show some restraint. You won't receive the full benefit of having worked for an organisation if you leave too soon.

"They go into some organisations that have a lot to offer them and they probably leave those organisations with the 'cake half-cooked' so to speak," says Kennedy. "They haven't taken on board or learned everything that's possible to be learned within that particular organisation."

For employers seeking to keep these workers around for a bit longer, the usual retention strategies apply.

"They [employees] are looking for employers that are prepared to provide them with the opportunities. They're certainly looking for employers prepared to invest in their training and development.

"If they don't get that from the employer then they're looking to move on to someone else that's prepared to offer that."

Roman Rogers, general manager at Hudson, says employers should not expect someone to stay forever.

"Don't be surprised if someone leaves your organisation sooner than you think. Start to be a little more realistic around the fact that the cradle-to-grave employer-employee relationship we've enjoyed for so many years is gone."

Job hopping is a sign of the times and is not going to go away anytime soon.

"We're seeing a shift now whereby employees are moving away from being committed to their employer to being more committed to their career," says Rogers. "The mix of loyalty is changing."

The structure of the economy is also changing. As organisations become leaner and flatten out, traditional career paths may disappear.

"This is the way of the world now. The candidate base is going towards more of a free-agent type of economy, where roles are more project-based. Candidates are exploring more contract roles."

Particularly in some smaller companies, the only way to move up may be to move out.

"The reality now for many people is that their next career step doesn't exist within their current organisation. They need to go away from that organisation to another employer that has a role that's maybe half a size bigger than their current role."

Rogers says that people often cite a salary increase as the reason for moving from one job to the next. But salary is often just a scapegoat when deeper issues are involved.

Workers need support, leadership and mentoring, which they are often promised before they accept a role but simply never given.

"It's the disconnect between the promise and the experience that someone has that often causes them to move."

There are three main reasons why people move on, says Rogers.

"The main reasons are lack of leadership, lack of development opportunities and lack of career options."