Workforce turnover is expensive — which is why employee retention is a critical management strategy.
It is not just about keeping talented workers within your organisation. When an employee leaves, the exit can negatively impact the team’s morale as well as create expenses as the organisation has to recruit, interview, hire and train new people.
Keeping team members is a matter of talent management; not just something the HR professionals who process applications and exit interviews have to worry about.
Engagement surveys at some organisations suggest that most employees are considering leaving their current employment. At the root of this issue is a lack of commitment to organisations.
Companies must proactively consider how they can foster loyalty and engagement that leads to long, successful careers and powerful employee engagement and commitment.
Organisations should know why their employees are leaving or considering leaving, understand the conditions in their organisations and — most importantly — take action to make a difference.
Sometimes people are hired and they are not the right fit.
Common causes of employee turnover include poor management or supervision, lack of effective employee retention strategies, and frustration and tension with superiors or team members.
Others are low salary or inequitable salary distribution among staff in the same grade. A negative workplace atmosphere, few opportunities for growth or professional development, office politics and complex hierarchies or unchallenging opportunities also contribute to employees leaving.
A proactive management approach as well as an engaging, supportive workplace environment are therefore crucial.
The last thing you want is to find out your talented workers are dissatisfied the moment only when they give notice. By then, they have already wrestled with the decision and weighed their options. Training supervisors to be attentive to signs of disengagement and empowering them with tools to monitor their team members are essential steps to take an active stance against employee turnover.
Communicating effectively with employees can build trust and make them comfortable discussing their concerns. In addition to holding discussions around what would make your employees stay, soliciting feedback about workers’ experiences can empower managers with insights to boost retention.
Employee engagement surveys that ask meaningful, strategic questions can be a powerful resource in this regard. Once you have an understanding of the factors that could be causing your workers to think about taking their talent elsewhere, it is time to take steps to address the issues.
Real change
Avoid throwing perks at the issues. Instead, facilitate real change.
The action must hit at the core of the organisation culture and worker motivation. Line managers may be better poised to lead by example and get involved in the day-to-day activities of their teams.
Every organisation requires a unique approach to reach out to its employees and create a supportive, dynamic atmosphere. Therefore, a comprehensive employee engagement platform that gathers meaningful information about staff members is best.
If you wait for your workers to put in their notice before talking to them, it is already too late. The time to act is now.
