Is Your Turnover Rate Out of Control?

Job-Hopping is the New Norm

A crucial part of maintaining a successful organization is keeping top performers from quitting. LinkedIn Economist Guy Berger reports that employees who graduated between 2006-2010 worked for an average of 2.8 companies during their first five years in the workforce. For employees who graduated 20 years earlier than that time period (between 1986-1990), it was half that number, 1.4 companies.

Another scary statistic according to a groundreport.com article is that up to 50% of US employees quit their jobs within the first 12 months of employment – 50 percent! What? As a result, the cost to the employer is between 30-150% of the employees overall salary to replace said employee; not good for the company’s bottom line. This is why getting a handle on job-hopping is important and how you can prevent it is paramount.

Top 5 Reasons Your Staff Leaves

Before steps can be taken to keep your employees from seeking employment elsewhere, you need to know why they are leaving. SuccessfulMeetings.com has identified 5 reason why your staff leaves:

1. Employee is not valued; company loses site of the employees’ well-being (i.e. basic need of belonging and esteem are not being take into account)
2. Employee is not challenged; company does not facilitate new ideas or enterprises, they are content with the status quo
3. Employee is not formally trained; company relies on having self-motivated/“quick learners”
4. Employee’s environment is or is becoming toxic; action or words are not healthy (i.e harsh criticism or inappropriate behavior/communication skills are not kept in check)
5. Employee has no balance between work and home; company requires 24/7 availability

5 Tips to Prevent Turnover

Before you staff leaves, there are ways to prevent the turnover all together. In short, learn from your mistakes and make the necessary changes. Here are 5 tips organizations can adopt to stop the turnover train:

1. Revamp your hiring process; don’t just look at people who can do the job, but people who will also fit into your company’s culture. By disclosing not just the job duties, but the prospective roles within the company, the interviewee is exposed to the entire picture, not just a quick peek.
2. Foster a collaborative work environment; if your employee feel that they have some skin in the game, verses just being a player, they will feel more motivated, happy and engaged in their job.
3. Provide opportunities for growth and improvement; ensure that workers are encouraged to learn a new skill or take on new responsibilities, because nothing lights a fire under a person better than a little challenge once in awhile!
4. Offer perks and benefits; standard benefits are a must (i.e. health insurance, paid vacation days..etc.), but unusual benefits (i.e gym memberships, additional days of work off, bonuses) go a long way to create a high level of employee motivation.
5. Learn from those who do leave; treat the employee leaving as a collaborator, don’t take it personally, really utilize exit interview to find out why to reveal areas of improvement.

It’s a fact of life, people do quit. However, by implementing a few of insightful tips and changes, turnover rate can be slowed down immensely.

Fun Team Building

Larry Lipman of Fun Team Building has worked with organizations for over 20 years. His expertise and custom team building ideas can be just the thing to stop high turnover rates within your organization. To learn more or schedule your training day, call Larry at 770-333-3303 today!