When it comes to preventing employee turnover, there are are two key steps:
- Know why employees are leaving
- Act on that knowledge
Once you know the reasons why employees are leaving, try these solutions:
1. Employees are leaving because they are overworked
Take a close look at what employees are responsible for and identify areas to loosen the grip on tasks that may not gel with the individual’s strengths. Chances are, there are employees who are stronger and weaker in certain areas. Identify them and make a few adjustments, you’ll be surprised by the boost in productivity.
2. Employees are not challenged enough - people feel stagnant, in a rut, or bored with their work
Again, to address this issue, get to know employees on a personal level. Understand their priorities in and outside the workplace. Flexibility is non-negotiable for most workers in today’s modern workforce, so look for areas in your employer brand that can be loosened up to keep and attract the right talent for your business. Set goals and work with employees (rather than against them) to tailor the employee-employer relationship to those goals -- to mutually benefit everyone involved. If employees are bored or stagnant in their roles, find areas they wish to explore. Open up job descriptions and brainstorm opportunities to break the mold and let employees try something new.
3. Employees Are Underpaid
While you may not have an immediate solution to dolling out raises, when employees give poor compensation as a reason for leaving, take the opportunity to address the c-suite and outline the value of retaining employees over losing and hiring new talent. It’s less expensive in the long run to bump pay and keep established talent than it is to find, hire, and onboard new employees.
In order to get the valuable information you need to make these kinds of adjustments, surveys are a great tool to use. However, meaningful conversations between executives and managers, as well as between managers and employees can lend themselves to data. The more regularly employees are heard and recognized, the more likely they are to be honest with their managers and the more likely adjustments made will return positive results.
