Staff turnover in a business will always occur, despite your best efforts. It’s incredibly rare for an employee to start working with your business and stay there until they retire (as nice as that would be!).
Having said that, a high employee turnover can cost a business greatly, and efforts should be made to reduce it as much as possible. Employees will always leave to further their careers or take advantage of great opportunities, but if staff are leaving due to poor management, lack of opportunities to develop, or a general unhappiness in the business – it’s time to take action.
We’ve identified a few key things any business can do to help reduce staff turnover today, and help to retain their best and brightest.
- Think beyond salary
Many people think that the salary an employee is paid is the biggest factor in whether they would be likely to be retained in the business, but that’s not always true. More increasingly, employees are retained by added benefits, positive working environments and most importantly, doing the job they love.
When trying to devise a strategy to retain your best employees, don’t fall into the trap of thinking money will solve the problem. An employee’s salary is important, and is likely a significant factor, but it’s not the be all and end all.
- Invest in your HR team
For any business looking to retain its people, a well developed and functioning HR team is essential. A major part of the HR team’s role is to ensure employee wellbeing and to identify and address any recurring issues employees might be facing which leads to them leaving the business.
Invest in your HR team by ensuring they have the numbers, skills and will to do the best job possible in retaining the best employees. Invest in HR software to allow the HR team to focus on the more important parts of their roles, rather than being snowed under with paperwork.
- Recognise your employees
When surveying employees who have recently left a business, one of the main issues which arises is a lack of recognition. A business who does not show recognition for it’s employees can be seen to undervalue them, which is a major driver of a lack of employee engagement. Would you want to work somewhere where you didn’t feel valued?
Review your processes, either via the HR Team, or with individual managers, to ensure that staff recognition is built into the processes of each team, and that good work is recognised and rewarded – even if only verbally.
- Involve employees in the process
One of the biggest mistakes a business can make is to think it has all the answers – this is often not the case. If you’re struggling to reduce staff turnover, why not try asking the staff what the issue is, and allowing them to feedback on the process to address it?
Tap in to the watercooler conversation, and try to get a real understanding of concerns amongst the workforce, and identify ways – in accordance with employees – in which these issues can be addressed.
Not only will this help to drive new ideas to reduce staff turnover, it can also give the team a sense of inclusion and value, as they’re being asked to contribute to the business strategy for retaining employees.
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