Exodus.

No not the movie with Paul Newman and Eva Marie Saint, although it could be used as an analogy for staff leaving their jobs and looking for a new land to work in. Too much?

I recently received a Linked In update telling me that 84 of my business connection colleagues had changed jobs in the last year. That amounted to about 15% of the number of connections in my account and as it turned out a pretty average staff turnover rate for Australian businesses in a year. So I didn't take much notice but I now see more and more articles, especially from major recruitment companies telling me that a major employee exodus is about to begin for the year. It's almost like the annual migration of wildebeest or the swallows coming back to San Juan Capistrano.

It seems employees coming back from summer holidays have had some time to think about the big picture, what matters most in their lives, their future, and all that thinking often reflects in company turnover figures at this time of year. 15% has been an average in staff loss across most industries in Australia according to the Institute of Managment annual survey of 700 organisations. Even with that figure, over a six year period, it can mean an entire staff replacement, but the feeling lately seems to be that anything up to 50% for some companies won't be unusual in 2011.

So how do you keep them, those rascally employees looking for greener pastures? Companies know the cost of replacement can be anywhere from 1.5 to 2.5 times annual salary to replace staff so why wouldn't they try everything to keep them happy? Positive staff support, HR selling the company at every opportunity and great working conditions go a long way to keeping people focused, energised and out of the classifieds but sometimes even that isn't enough.

With wages set to increase, an inordinately low unemployment rate and a positive outlook on 2011 it seems like the perfect storm approaching for employers and as Steve Martin was so quick to point out, "all I've ever wanted was an honest week's pay for an honest day's work" and in that lies the problem for employers in 2011. The other problem is identifying staff that are contemplating leaving, is it the telltale signs of less than stellar performance, tardiness and a general malaise that should raise your antennae?

On the other hand if you are the one thinking about leaving, you already know who you are and you are probably reading this blog on the beach, between holes on the golf course or in a coffee shop scanning SEEK while coughing over the phone to the HR manager.

The trick in all of this toing and froing is to find that elusive occupation for which you have a passion or for your employer to realise this and work with you to create that passion. You work for a long time, so don't you think it is a worthwhile exercise to try and find that passion and make a difference no matter where you work? If you don't tell anyone what you are passionate about, how will the boss ever fully understand you?

Ideal jobs do exist, just ask Steven Speilberg who gave a simple answer to the job question, " I dream for a living".