How To Minimize Staff Turnover
by Arnab Dey Business Development 02 March 2023
High staff turnover — whether voluntary or involuntary — can be the death of most companies.
Think about it: when your best or most experienced employees walk out, they not only take away their personal knowledge but also do away with organizational knowledge.
The high turnover can also damage your company’s reputation, productivity, and morale.
So how can you prevent that from happening?
Let’s take a look at some practical tips to help you minimize staff turnover and build a loyal, committed team that can take your business to the next level.
What Causes Staff Turnover?
Your staff is the engine that keeps your company running, so you actually want to retain the frequent staff turnover. But if that’s not happening, here are some reasons why:
A. Inadequate Pay and Benefits
According to a survey by Glassdoor, 45% of employees say that compensation is the top reason they came to work for a company, while 32% say it’s the top reason for staff turnover.
B. Poor Management and Leadership
A study by Gallup found the statistics of managers account for at least 70% of the variance in employee engagement scores. Poor management can lead to high staff turnover rates, as employees may feel unsupported or undervalued.
C. Lack of Growth and Development Opportunities
Employees want to feel they’re learning and growing in their roles. According to a survey by LinkedIn, 94% of employees would stay at a company longer if it invested in their careers.
D. Work-life Imbalance
In a survey by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), work-life balance was cited as the top factor influencing job satisfaction, with 89% of employees saying it’s important to them. Employers can help by offering flexible schedules, remote work options, and office policies such as corporate or office catering.
5 Tips to Minimize Staff Turnover
Let’s take a look at 5 tips for minimizing staff turnover:
1. Make Better Hiring Decisions
Hiring decisions can lead to some of the best hires and some you’d rather forget. And according to Harvard Business Review (HBR), as much as 80% of employee turnover can be attributed to the latter. This can lead to the need for new workers and higher training costs.
So, instead of sitting on your hands during the hiring process and hoping you’ll land a great hire, you should focus on implementing processes like pre-hire programs and initiatives to increase employee retention.
And if you don’t have the manpower to implement these initiatives, it’s better to outsource the hiring process to an experienced recruitment company.
2. Focus On Onboarding
According to SHRM, 69% of employees will likely stick with a company for over three years if they experience excellent onboarding.
So, once you’ve hired an employee, teaching them the ropes is essential to making them happy and retaining them for years.
That means introducing your new hire to your current workforce, showing them what kind of work you want them to focus on, investing in their professional development, and helping with staff turnover.
In fact, the latter can make the difference between fully engaged employees and those just putting in the hours.
3. Offer Competitive Pay And Benefits
As we’ve noted, most employees are looking for competitive pay and benefits when looking for job opportunities.
Think about it: a software engineer with a successful track record and experience with big-name companies will look for opportunities that challenge them and offer them what they’re worth. And if you’re offering below-market salary rates, they’ll cruise to another company.
So, when setting up salaries for new roles, perform a competitive analysis to understand what other companies offer for similar positions. Try to meet that salary. If that isn’t possible, offer competitive benefits like 401(k), health insurance, etc.
4. Recognize and Reward Employees
Nobody wants to be where they’re unwanted, and it’s the same for office workers. If employees feel unappreciated at work or never get recognition for their achievements, they’ll become demotivated and unengaged.
This will lead to work delays and, eventually, exits. This is also the reason for frequent staff turnover.
So, appreciating employees for their efforts and recognizing their accomplishments is essential to staff retention. Plus, taking a holistic and inclusive approach can lead to increased talent attraction and higher-performing teams.
5. Provide Upskilling Opportunities
According to a PwC survey, most employees would willingly forgo more than 10% of their salary in exchange for upskilling and training opportunities.
But that doesn’t mean offering traditional travel-intensive or day-long classroom training sessions. Instead, it means providing employees with access to online platforms, certifications, and other opportunities that can allow them to make training a part of their work life.
Bottomline:
Offering internal promotions upon upskilling can boost employee retention and minimize the rates of staff turnover. Encourage other employees to work harder. However, you should ensure employees won’t be penalized for seeking roles on other teams and that managers are willing to let go of them.
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