Research from the firm found 20% of employees can be classified as ‘escapers'. These are the employees who plan to leave their current organisation as soon as the economy picks up. This group of staff will start to look for new jobs within the next six months,
Approximately 12% of staff can be classified as a ‘visiting star'. This group will manifest themselves as the too-good-to-be-true staff member hoping to get the optimum benefit from their current employer before jumping up the career ladder as soon as they have the opportunity.
A tenth of workers are ‘economic prisoners' who are afraid to leave their current employer because they do not think they their current pay and benefits package will be matched elsewhere. And another tenth are ‘prisoners of circumstance' who need to work at their current job because of locality or flexibility. Their lack of individual choice can lead to alienation and decline in performance.
A smaller number (4%) are ‘prisoners of conscience'. They love their jobs but think they have reached the limits of their abilities. Their commitment keeps them loyal and engaged - but they do not contribute to business performance.
And a mere 3% can be classified as ‘lifers' who are stable, acting as a corporate memory bank but they are less likely than the other categories to be adaptable to change.
Ian Gooden, director at Chiumento and author of the report, said: "As organisations come out of recession, most will find an element of mismatch between the tasks they have to undertake to grow again and the talent they have to hand. They will have to face some very difficult decisions about their people. And so will those people whose careers are now going to have to take a new direction.
"Organisations' plans for recruitment, talent management and restructuring should be revisited now to ensure they release their corporate prisoners and attract the right people for the long term."
