BEE Partner, South Africa Economy Watch

Job hopping by Black people

Job hopping by Black people is increasingly being seen as a problem. Businesses train Black people into positions only to find that they leave the position for a new company. Understanding the reason for job hopping becomes a staff retention strategy to prevent this practice.

The primary reason driving job hopping is culture. Some company cultures do not accept Black people’s cultures and backgrounds, resulting in their being forced to assimilate Western business culture to gain access to the mainstream economy. This can be uncomfortable for a Black person.

Notions held by white people to the effect that they are following international business practice hold little weight. There is a big difference between Eastern and Western, Chinese and Japanese, European and American business practice. There is room for African business to deviate from standard international practice within reason.

Many business practices developed for white people hold little fascination for Black people and in fact alienate Black people. As a _generalisation, Black people hold little regard for attending a corporate day at the rugby followed by a braai. Forcing Black staff to participate may result in alienation. Change to such practices may be threatening to white business because it is inherent in their business culture. It does, however, have the effect of alienating Black people who do not enjoy the culture and therefore immediately feel disassociated. The discomfort results in the Black person moving on to a new company in search of more appropriate surroundings.

The white assumption is that the Black person has no loyalty. Blame is always laid on the offending party without due consideration for the reason. It is easier to label a breakdown as greed rather than misunderstanding. No one is asking white companies to abolish their culture, but consideration of and tolerance for other cultures goes a long way towards making Black people more comfortable in the corporate environment.

This is not a one-way street. There are people who move freely to a higher salary. Consider a scenario where people are not used to certain comforts. A taste for those comforts creates a desire to experience increasingly expensive luxuries. The result is a need to hop to a job with a higher salary in order to afford, or even maintain, the new lifestyle.

Job hopping artificially increases labour costs. Whatever experience is gained is fleeting and lacks substance. If a person is recruited as a financial director and only stays in the position for three months, it is unlikely that they can claim the skills necessary to hold this title for future reference. To become immersed in the dynamics of an industry, people need to spend substantial time in that role.

The artificial increase of labour prices without substance results in anti-competitive practice. Labour is not able to deliver on its costs and ultimately South African business becomes uncompetitive in the global market. The end result is a lack of international investment and a slowdown in job creation.

Job hopping is a problem that needs to be addressed sooner rather than later. It can be effectively prevented by better cultural understanding in the workplace, performance-based contracts to lock employees in more effectively and, most importantly, rigorous recruitment controls.

Job hoppers are fairly easily detected in the recruitment process. Candidates who have left their previous employment because they felt unappreciated or underpaid will probably feel unappreciated and underpaid in their next job. A person with a string of jobs each lasting only one year is likely to leave again after one year. People who leave their jobs because they need to relocate closer to schools, have remained employed with the same company for three years or more and speak well of that company, will have more to offer a new company.

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