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Staff turnover is a hidden pitfall which will soon develop into one of the costliest and biggest problems of your enterprise. Someone leaves their job, a position opens up, and the company is back to square one with hiring.
But the cost of replacing an employee is only one part. Managers lose time. Teams may carry extra workloads. The secretary has to be trained before they start working.
Instead, you should focus on why people leave and use those clues to build actionable employee retention strategies.
Take a step back and review the numbers,
Start with Your Employee Data
Do people bail in their first year? Are there particular departments experiencing better retention than others? Do you have high performers leaving the organization at a higher rate than other staff?
These patterns can indicate there would be problems that will not show up otherwise.
Useful information includes:
Employee turnover ratio | Average tenure of employee | Absenteeism rate promotions | Exit interview feedback | Feedback on managerial skills
The numbers can’t tell you everything, but it can highlight areas to investigate.
Create a “Why Stay?” Conversation
Exit interviews tell you why people have left. That helps but it’s too little and too late.
Another thing managers need to do is ask current workers exactly why they’re still around.
The simplest of conversations can give you a clear indication as to what your employees value most. This could be flexible working, career prospects, nice managers, and team culture, work on interesting projects etc.
The responses can be utilized to form ideal employee retention strategies that care middle around exact worker necessities instead of hypotheses.
Check the Manager Effect
Retention may be great in one department and a disaster in another.
At that point, management practices should be considered.
For employees, their direct manager is someone who they deal with far more than anyone else in the company. Good employees are likely to leave the company if there is bad communication, inconsistent feedback, lack of expectations, or support.
Managers need to be provided feedback and regularly trained on people management.
Look at the First 90 Days
Retention issues can start well before the hiring process is over.
A new employee who gets little direction may lose their bearings in what their role is. They might also have a hard time grasping expectations or bonding with team mates.
Some of the best practice approaches to a successful first 90 days are:
- An interesting overview of the role
- Regular manager check-ins
- Training support
- Defined early goals
- Opportunities to meet team members
This transition can be more manageable with early support.
Find the “Friction Points”
Retention problems aren’t all dramatic.
Employees often get annoyed with little things happening again.
Perhaps an outdated system complicates a straightforward process. Maybe approvals take too long. One possibility is that the employees do not have sufficient information to carry out their task
Ask employees:
“What is it that makes your job harder than it needs to be?”
The answer could indicate practical issues that management can remedy.
Retention Starts with Listening
The best employee retention strategies are based on data, not guesswork.
Companies that really listen to employees, analyze employee turnover trends, develop better managers, reduce workplace friction, and prioritize career development are unsurprisingly much more successful at retaining top talent than those who fail to do any of the above.
The end game is simple − you want to be the kind of place that makes employees realize they have so many reasons to stay and will prosper if they build their future there.
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