February 12th, 2010


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“The amount of career  support received by employees was positively correlated to their stated intention to remain with their current employer. Employees were found to leave organizations where career discussions with managers were not occurring.” So wrote Career  Buzz guests, Professors Lee Butterfield, Bill Borgen and Vivian Lalande of the Canadian Research Working Group for Evidence-Based Practice in Career Development. We had a fascinating discussion about career conversations at work, and how career conversations help employees develop what the professors called ‘lifetime employability,’ distinct from the now-outdated notion of ‘lifetime employment.’

CareerCycles asks: With the cost of replacing a valued employee at two to five times their base salary (as was stated on Career Buzz), and if the professors are right that engaging employees in effective career conversations most often leads to them staying, doesn’t it make sense that companies who use this strategy would keep their people, retain institutional knowledge, and save a lot of recruiting costs?

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