High Employee Turnover can be painful. Here are some steps you can take to reduce it
When I joined a large hotel as Employment Manager, we had 46% turnover. Turnover is costly to any organization. Turnover costs include time spent recruiting, interviewing, and hiring employees. Turnover costs money including job postings and salaries. Turnover can hurt an organization because it may run short-staffed and pile responsibilities on other employees, which can lead to burnout. Estimates for turnover range from 2-6 times an employee’s annual salary. When I started my job as Employment Manager, 46% turnover cost roughly $600k per year.
As I developed my expertise on the job, I saw how many people I was recruiting and onboarding each week (hint: it was a lot). And that got me thinking. Why was I spinning my wheels to recruit for the same positions each week? Why were people quitting their jobs and what could be done about it? I was recruiting, interviewing, and onboarding every week. It was like a broken record spinning on its turntable, with no end in sight. Insanity.
I made it my mission to find the root cause of why people left and what we could do to reduce turnover. I needed data, lots of data. I stopped employees in the hallways to ask questions about their jobs. I gave new employees questionnaires at the end of their onboarding training (back in the day it was in person) and what worked well and what needed improvement. I attached new-hire surveys to employees’ paychecks (remember, this was some time ago and people didn’t have direct deposit). The employees gave me more information than I had asked for and they were glad I asked for their feedback. The data suggested that people left because of salary and benefits, management, and lack of opportunity or career development. I put together a plan to improve these areas. Through teamwork and dedication, the managers and I reduced turnover to 32% within two years and saw an increase in employee morale and guest satisfaction
Here are a few solutions to increase employee retention. It starts with a company’s values, but doesn’t end there.
Core Values:
Does every single employee in the organization bring the Core Values to life when they come to work?
Do they know that the Core Values are?
Is the mission clear and do employees find value in the mission?
Employees are looking for a company that has a clear mission and they can work towards that mission because it aligns with their own mission.
Employees are looking for meaningful work where they can have an impact.
Recruiting:
Is your job posting attractive and clearly defines the role?
Does it mention the salary and benefits?
Does it mention room for advancement or career development for the employee?
Employees are looking for a company that will invest in them as much as they invest in the company.
Employees are looking for transparency and salaries in job postings.
Where do you recruit from?
If it’s just one single job board, widen the job boards where you post jobs to attract from different markets that you might not have thought of before.
Tighten up your recruiting process so you can respond to candidates quickly and move them through the interview process in a timely manner. Stay in contact with candidates.You can make quick decisions regarding candidates and you can get back to each one of them.
Interviewing:
Train hiring managers how to conduct thorough interviews that attract strong candidates. Keep the interviews and questions appropriate.
Don’t take the candidate through 12 rounds of interviews that last 3 months when you know after the 1st interview the candidate doesn’t have the skills to do to the job. They’re interviewing you as much as you're interviewing them.
Onboarding:
Send the successful candidate an offer letter, but make a phone call, too.
Be clear in the offer letter about start date, salary, and benefits.
Outline the entire compensation package and when the employee will be eligible for each benefit.
Have the employee’s workstation and technology setup before they start. No one likes to scramble at the last minute and it makes the company look disorganized.
Introduce the new hire to the leadership team.
Set clear expectations for the first 30-60-90 days.
Pair new employees with mentors that they can ask questions to and learn things from.
Training and Development:
Have career conversations with employees regularly so they stay interested in their current job and they know what skills they should be developing for their future development.
Offer different learning opportunities so employees can learn new skills.
Offer different methods of learning because not everyone learns the same.
If your company doesn’t already have a mentoring program, consider starting one. Companies with mentoring programs see higher employee retention and greater interest from employees.
Salary and Benefits:
Do you pay fairly and competitively?
Does your company have a transparent salary policy?
Start by setting salary benchmarks for your industry and location.
Have you done a complete company salary review to make sure you are paying fairly and equitably to all current employees?
When was the last time you review your benefits offerings to make sure they offer value to employees and you’re not just offering benefits because everyone else is. Do your employees receive value from the benefits you offer?
Feedback and Communication:
Employees want to have a say in their work and they want to have an impact on the organization where they work.
Do you have feedback channels for employees?
When they have awesome ideas, how can they let those ideas be known?
Are employees empowered to put the ideas into action or is there an approval process?
Well-written job descriptions and clearly communicated job expectations
Achievable goals set and reviewed periodically
Performance reviews are another feedback channel. The old way of giving annual performance reviews is not helpful to anyone. How do you give feedback to employees? I have found that weekly 1:1 are valuable to talk about the day to day and that quarterly checkins are valuable for a more in-depth conversation about performance and to set goals. What is your current performance review process?
Don’t wait until an employee quits to get their feedback, don’t conduct exit interviews. Instead, get their feedback while they’re still working for your company. Stay interviews don’t have to take a long time but they can have a big impact.
By looking at your current processes and making a few adjustments, you can reduce turnover. It takes dedication, communication, and commitment.
