Churn and Turnover: The Two Sides of the Coin in the Tech Industry

In the world of technology, where everything changes at lightning speed, companies are constantly navigating between challenges and opportunities. At Morean, we have an interesting story to tell about how we handle two tricky concepts: churn and turnover.

Talent Stability: Morean’s Achievement

In a sector where employee turnover is a common issue, Morean has achieved something remarkable. I remember when I joined in 2022.  They told me that, by then, the company didn’t have a single voluntary resignation. I was completely amazed; I couldn’t believe it, and every time I discussed it with my colleagues in People, we kept turning the topic over in our minds. In 2023, there was only one voluntary resignation, and so far in 2024, there haven’t been any. How is that possible?

The answer lies in Morean’s work culture. We operate in an environment where trust, human quality, and the pursuit of excellence in every project we undertake are paramount. At Morean, each of us has a high degree of autonomy and responsibility in decision-making and task execution.

The Challenge of Churn: The Flip Side

But not everything is rosy. Customer churn presents a different challenge. At Morean, we support our clients with the necessary talent to complete their teams with outstanding engineers. However, when projects slow down or end, clients decide to release the team.

This customer churn directly impacts involuntary turnover at Morean. Although the company strives to reassign these employees to new projects, the reality is that fluctuating demand can lead to the release of highly skilled teams. It’s a big paradox: a company that retains its employees through its internal culture but faces challenges due to external factors.

The Economic Impact of Employee Turnover

Beyond the challenge of managing churn, there is a significant economic impact for any company. Hiring new employees involves costs that go beyond their salary. There are monetary expenses for job postings, recruitment processes, and onboarding, not to mention the time invested by HR teams and managers.

Once new employees come on board, they face a learning curve. The adaptation period involves training and getting familiar with existing projects and processes, which can slow down productivity. This learning curve impacts projects, affecting deadlines and pushing back the launch of new features.

Delays in project delivery can lead to missed deadlines and lost opportunities, resulting in financial losses for the company. Quantifying these effects clearly and simply is a challenge (personally, I find it very challenging and it’s never easy to see it clearly). In a world where metrics and data are essential for business, justifying the economic loss of all this is quite complex. Translating these costs into numbers that anyone can understand involves dealing with multiple variables and assumptions, making the real impact hard to visualize and communicate.

Navigating the Waters of Churn and Turnover

The key for Morean has been adaptability, aka, working on strategies to mitigate the impact of customer churn. These include diversifying our customer base, exploring new markets, and strengthening our relationships with existing clients.

Conclusion: A Delicate but Achievable Balance

At Morean, we know we don’t have all the answers. Churn and turnover are complex challenges that we continue to tackle with effort and creativity. Every day we learn something new, and we are committed to finding solutions that minimize these risks. We know the road isn’t easy, but we are determined to keep adapting and improving. After all, in the tech industry, the only constant is change, and we are here to face it.