THE WELLNESS LADDER, INC.
BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA

The “go to” trusted wellness solutions company committed to positively impacting organizations, employee lives and bottom lines. “The Wellness Ladder” MISSION wellness and employee engagement resulting in happy employees, increased productivity, company loyalty and better bottom lines Provide a great work environment both internally and exernally that consists of respect, kindness and compassion We are your wellness change advocates Alyson Smith is a seasoned visionary leader in HR. She is passionate about positively impacting individuals and organizations through benefits, wellness and culture transformation, which creates the path to healthy organizations, people & profit. Alyson focuses on understanding the company’s objectives and quickly getting those results. To date, this has equated to saving organizations millions of dollars and improving engagement. To help managers and companies identify employees at risk of quitting, we investigated this very question and uncovered a set of behavioral changes exhibited by employees—what we dub pre-quitting behaviors—that are strong predictors of voluntary quits in the 12 months after they are observed by managers. Our inquiry was inspired by a study by evolutionary psychologists David Buss and Todd Shackelford showing that romantic partners give off cues that indicate whether they are committing infidelity. A series of classic studies by psychologist John Gottman supports this, identifying how certain verbal and nonverbal cues expressed by married couples during brief videotaped interactions can forecast their eventual divorce. Their work productivity has decreased more than usual. They have been doing the minimum amount of work more frequently than usual. They have lost enthusiasm for the mission of the organization. For managers, our advice is to focus on retaining star employees in the short-term. Typically, organizations handle a turnover problem with large scale interventions to improve departmental or firm-level commitment, job satisfaction, and job engagement. These strategies may work, but they take time to design and implement. Thinking in terms of the turnover risk of specific employees allows you to invest your time and resources into those employees who create the most value and are actually at risk of leaving. It’s also worth noting that employees in the midst of leaving often take customers or proprietary product information with them. And as most of us know, a quick departure can leave a hole in company operations that creates long term harm. While it’s important to realize that there is no guarantee that employees exhibiting pre-quitting behaviors will definitely leave, those identified as flight risks should be monitored for unsavory behavior. Succession planning for their departure may prevent damages arising from unexpected quits. And if you’re in the market for a new job? Hiding your own pre-quitting behaviors may prove difficult. Given the negative consequences of turnover, know that your managers and peers are likely watching for obvious and subtle changes in behavior—and that no single action is a dead giveaway. Instead, patterns of behavior over time that may seem subtle to you might tip off your boss. We suggest that you stay engaged with your work, continue to show enthusiasm for the mission of the organization, and project a consistent level of relational energy to the members of your work team. The basic tenet of managing turnover is that everyone eventually leaves. But the “when” can feel like a mystery. While our research shouldn’t be considered the only way to identify an employee on the verge of quitting, it does point to a set of behaviors that, taken together, can provide a clue—and it discounts behaviors that have mistakenly been seen as tells. So the next time you have an inkling about whether someone is about to leave, know that you may be onto something when you take the right indicators into account. As Dolly Parton sang, “Though you haven’t left me yet, I know you’re just as good as gone.” Timothy M. Gardner is an Associate Professor of Management at the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business at Utah State University. Peter W. Hom is a Professor of Management at the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University and productive employees that impact your bottom line. Elevate your company’s overall health today! WHO WE ARE We are not your typical corporate wellness company! We set the path to saving the maximum claims dollars along with fostering more engaged and productive employees that impact your bottom line Our founder and CEO, has been on your side of the table for over 15 years and knows what it takes to get your organization its biggest returns. We have the ingredients that lead to the biggest impact to your employees and company.  The secret consists of looking at 3 core areas (