5 Simple Steps to Reduce High Turnover Rate

One of the major problems businesses confront is attracting and keeping employees. The most prosperous businesses value their employees and are continually searching for methods to keep their best workers on board. Today, rising labor expenses and employee turnover are reducing businesses’ profits on a scale that has never been seen before. 

What’s the cost of employee turnover rate?

Although it can be expensive, many businesses do not prioritize reducing employee turnover. What’s worse is that losing just one or two high performers might start a chain reaction of employee attrition. Direct exit expenses are paid by organizations anytime an employee leaves, whether it is voluntary or not. Organizations also pay for the less obvious costs related to hiring, productivity, training, knowledge, and growth.

The standard measure for the cost of replacing an employee is between 6 to 9 months of an employee’s annual salary. So for an employee that makes $60,000 per year that cost could be between $30,000 and $45,000!

It’s time to step up your retention efforts if you are experiencing a high turnover rate and go above and beyond just providing a competitive benefits package.

Instill transparency

Transparency is essential for a healthy organization overall, not simply for reasons of employee retention. There is a trusting relationship between employees and their employers, and transparency does much to enhance it. By defaulting to openness, you are not required to disclose everyone’s pay or private acquisition ambitions. It’s easy to follow this conceptual model.

Try asking yourself, “Do I absolutely have to keep this information from the team?” rather than, “Do I absolutely have to share this information with the team.” If you can’t justify keeping something a secret, you should consider whether doing so is worthwhile, especially when the alternative has so many advantages.

It really is that easy. To embrace transparency, you don’t have to abandon the idea of proprietary or confidential information; all you have to do is consider why information should be kept secret.

Additionally, it has practical applications. Employee contributions and teamwork can both benefit from open information flow. According to a recent Harvard Business Review study, transparency and flexibility are one of the most important elements in influencing employee happiness because content workers stick around longer.

Create realistic expectations

Are you hiring excellent people only to lose them after three months? It could be related to how you’re describing the position you’re advertising.

You can’t hold it against a new employee if they start out in a position believing they will be doing one thing but end up doing something else.

On the other hand, exaggerating and unjustified expectations may deter eligible applicants from applying. Your new hire shouldn’t be surprised if you anticipate working 60 to 80 hours a week. Advertising truthfully is crucial, but hiring presents a fantastic opportunity to review your company’s core principles and the standard of its culture.

Understand why turnover is happening

You can’t change something you aren’t measuring. It’s crucial to gather the data meticulously, keeping in mind that not all employee turnover is created equal and that the way you measure it matters.

There are many different reasons why people leave their jobs, therefore it’s crucial to avoid classifying all employee turnover under the same category. Tomer Tagrin of Yotpo addressed this topic in his post titled “How can you measure your company culture?” and provided a formula for calculating turnover and corporate culture.

Do not forget the significance of collecting qualitative data through engagement surveys and other methods. Although you can collect the feedback yourself, there are a number of useful technologies that can assist organizations get that feedback even anonymously and with little overhead. 

HeartCount can help you just with that! It’s a quick and effective way to learn more about your employees, in real-time, and to help them overcome challenges they are facing, before they leave. One of the best features is “people to keep an eye on” that identifies employees who are unsatisfied at work and are at a higher risk of quitting. 

If you don’t want to hear the unpleasant truths about your company’s culture right now, just wait; chances are that you’ll read about them on Glassdoor.

Encourage growth 

To keep top talent on staff, opportunities for professional development and progress are essential.

Part of what makes a successful employee is the desire to always develop and improve. Provide as many chances as you can for people to learn and develop their skills. Not only will you satisfy a top performer’s need for advancement, but your entire company will gain from the new skills they acquire.

Advancement possibilities are equally crucial; just as a plant eventually outgrows its container or becomes root-bound, a high-level performer eventually looks for a transplant to avoid being in a situation they have outgrown indefinitely. In contrast to 69% of non-millennials, 87% of millennials believe that professional or career growth and development opportunities are crucial in a job.

Don’t consider an employee’s professional growth as covering the expense of their next employer’s training. Consider it as an investment in human capital instead. 

When there is little room for advancement, top performers are likely to choose another route. It’s unfair to anticipate that they won’t. The ability to advance can make or break retention. Find strategies to assist an employee in moving forward internally if they are actually prepared to take the next step in their career.

Prioritize wellness

Employees who are in good physical and mental health have the capacity to create more and better work. It really is that easy.

From a psychological standpoint, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is an excellent approach to highlight the significance of both physical and mental health, not just for humans in general but also specifically in the workplace.

The importance of mental health in affecting employee well-being and organizational success is underappreciated by businesses. Only one in five employees claim that their employer allows for work-life balance. The World Health Organization estimates that stress costs US businesses over $300 billion annually. 

How can you promote wellness among your team members? Start by putting an end to overwork, whether it results from managerial pressure or personal pressure to succeed. A strong manager’s ability to avoid overwork can have a significant impact on many aspects of employee welfare.

Give staff the resources they require when stress is unavoidable and support them in managing stress through careful project management. 

At the Google campus, Jon Kabat-Zinn gave an excellent presentation on the advantages of mindfulness and stress management at work.

Take action that matters

For many businesses, employee turnover is a typical problem, but it doesn’t have to be for yours. Any one of these tactics could increase employee retention rates and aid in preventing turnover.

One of the finest methods to enhance your team’s experience at work is to regularly emphasize the value you place on their contributions and satisfaction. Peer-to-peer recognition is a simple and effective technique to crowdsource such positive comments. HeartCount can help you! 

HeartCount measures 8 Key Metrics of employee engagement and well-being (personal advancement, well-being, feedback & recognition, job satisfaction, attitude towards the company, relationship with management, relationship with colleagues, productivity and efficiency). With more than 80 questions that can be fully personalized you can have in-depth understanding of your team’s feelings and challenges. High turnover rates can become a thing of the past!