We’ve Benatar over this, time and again

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“Treat employees like they make a difference, and they will.” Jim Goodnight, CEO, SAS Institute

Hey y’all, guess what? It’s not just trucking.

“I’ll boil it down to three words for you.”“I’ll boil it down to three words for you.”

I figured we’d start hearing rumblings about nursing shortages when I recently started getting emails from headhunters I signed up with almost a decade ago, when I was looking for nursing jobs. “How’s your nursing career? Still practicing? Looking for a change?” Same deal as trucking companies, sign-on bonus, every other weekend off, yaddah, yaddah, yaddah.

Fact is, there’s a shortage of nurses like there’s a shortage of drivers – or at least there was when I was in the business. There were plenty of nurses, just not enough places willing to treat and pay them like professional, licensed human beings. I’m not sure what the state of the industry is now, but I imagine it’s pretty close to the same stuff, different day, especially since the headhunters are active again.

According to a survey conducted by Accountemps and cited in a recent FleetOwner article about recruiting and keeping talent, 29 percent of “professionals” plan to look for a new position in the next 12 months. Apparently, churn is everywhere, and no matter what you call it, it all boils down to a very basic principal, belted out beautifully by Pat Benatar, “Treat me right.”

And to sum things up, I’ve got to agree with one of my favorite, yet definitely somewhat bristly, commenters, Dennis Musselman, with a nod to his summation of the situation: “You know what? If these CEO’s can’t figure out what the problem is, then they are the problem.”

I think Dennis may be on to something. Stay tuned.