Employee Turnover: When employees leave a company and have to be replaced.
Does your business have the reputation of having high employee turnover? Before applying to an opening, the first thing that smart job seekers will do is check the ratings to see what previous employees had to say about working for your organization. Seeing high employee turnover is a red flag that could keep applicants from applying to your company’s open positions. Luckily, employee turnover is something that can be stopped, although it may take a lot of changes.
Scaring away new hires isn’t the only negative effect of employee turnover. It is more cost effective to retain old employees than it is to lose and hire new ones. Constant turnover equals constant training, which causes everyone to fall behind. The other members of your staff have to pick up the extra work, which eventually, could make them leave as well. If it is the company’s decision to fire countless employees, maybe it’s time to re-evaluate the requirements of the position and what it is that you need. Pinpoint the characteristics and skills needed and change up your job description so that you can find a rock star employee for the long haul.
But what if your employees are leaving voluntarily? How can high employee turnover be avoided? Really, it’s common sense. Treat your employees well and make it hard for them to leave.
Consider making these five changes to help make your employees want to stay:
Make Health #1
If your organization doesn’t offer health benefits, chances are your employees are always on the lookout for a new opportunity that does. This is an extremely attractive employee benefit, but also an expensive one. If employee health benefits are too costly for your business, there are still other ways to show you care about the well being of your staff. Offer to pay for gym memberships, stock healthy snacks in the office, or plan a company charity run. The better the benefits, the harder it is for your employees to walk away.
Value Growth
Hard workers want to work at companies where there is room to advance and grow their career. As a manager, you should know each of your employee’s individual goals, short-term and long-term. In the short-term, acknowledge and celebrate accomplishments and reward those accomplishments with a raise and/or promotion. For the long-term, know what their goals are professionally for the future and do everything you can to help them get there. Show you care!
Encourage Work Friendships
Plan company outings outside of work for your staff to relax and enjoy each other’s company. When people work with others who they consider to be their friends, it makes work more enjoyable. As a manager, it’s healthy to be friends with the employees you manage. Healthy work relationships make employees more committed to their work, and the company.
Promote Flexibility
Let your employees be flexible with their work schedules. Let them leave early to pick their kids up from school on Tuesdays. Allow them to run and get a coffee in addition to their lunch hour. Promoting a work-life balance is a great perk that will help keep your staff loyal.
Stick to the Job Description
Make sure your employees are working the job they got hired for. Piling on work totally outside of the parameters of their position will make them lose interest and want to leave, fast.
Of course there are many reasons why businesses could have high employee turnover. If you feel like your organization has too many employees coming and going, perhaps exit interviews are something to consider. This way, you can analyze the trends of what is going wrong, and figure out the best way to get your employees to want to stay.