Tell me: Why are so many employees leaving your company for better opportunities elsewhere?

Picture me asking you this with one hand on my hip and a tapping foot.

Let me back-up: We recently sent out a human resources survey to our readers. Two of the questions in the survey: “How many employees resigned from your company in 2010? and “What was the main reason employees resigned from your company in 2010?”

375 of you completed the survey (thank you, by the way). Your answer to the first question: 5.7 (average). Your answer to the second: Better opportunity elsewhere (the most common answer at 34.9%).

Having five employees leave your company in a year seems like a lot. Granted, these have been dark days for the HME industry with competitive bidding and other challenges, and some of those employees may have been laid off.

But 34.9% of you reported that these employees left for a better opportunity elsewhere. That means you wanted to hold on to these employees but, somehow, you let them slip through your fingers.

That's right. YOU let them slip through your fingers.

Don't think this kind of thing doesn't matter. Case in point: As part of the process for selecting the winners of our HME Excellence Awards, we ask applicants how many employees have left their company in a year. We ask because being able to hold on to your employees is a sign of a good, healthy business. It matters.

We're putting together a special report on human resources that will feature an analysis of these survey results, as well as articles by some of the leading names in the industry: Carolyn Cole on the color-coded personality test used at The VGM Group to determine employee working styles (she's a Red and so am I); Ian McCracken on over-investing in your employees—but not just with money; and Vince Crew on conducting performance reviews to keep you and your employees happy.

We're also co-hosting a webcast with Michael Sperduti at Emerge Sales, who will share proven techniques for hiring the best employees and highlight results from the survey.

This trifecta of tools—the “HME Provider Human Resources Survey,” the “Human Capital: Hiring and retaining the best employees for your company” special report and the “Hiring the best—A proven system for hiring top sales, clinical and operational talent” webcast—are your your ticket to getting and keeping your employees.

So check our website on March 28 for the special report; and sign up for the webcast on March 30 or April 1 (9 a.m. and 12 p.m. sessions both days).

I know you can do better.

Liz Beaulieu