Nobody Likes Turnover

46%. 

I was an Employment Manager for a large hotel and we had 46% turnover. As the Employment Manager, my job was to recruit, interview, and onboard for the entire hotel, every department, all roles. As I dove deeper into the job, I realized it was a big job and I could have a major impact on the employees and the hotel by exceeding every expectation. And that’s what I aimed to do. 

As I learned my job and got deeper into the role, I saw how many people I was recruiting and onboarding each week. 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 record spinning on its turntable, but no end in sight. It drove me crazy. 

I made it my mission to dig in deep and get to the bottom of why people were leaving and what we could do to reduce turnover. I needed data to get to the root causes. I started talking to employees in the hallways to ask them 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 started attaching new-hire surveys to employees’ paychecks (remember, this was some time ago and people didn’t have direct deposit). The surveys I sent out to the new hires asked them three questions. I kept things simple and employees sent the surveys back filled with information.

Now, I needed to put that feedback into action. 

I learned:

New hires were having trouble getting to know their managers. So managers started having check-ins with the new employees on their 1st shift, 1st week, 3rd week, and monthly for their first three months.

New employees weren’t getting their uniforms on time and had to wear other people’s uniforms or re-wear uniforms. We fixed that. 

New Hire Orientation was boring. We started a focus group to help us make the first day of orientation better. We introduced blocks of time in which each member of the Managing Committee spoke to the new employees. We served a fabulous lunch prepared by the Chef (food always brings people together). We made it interactive and introduced a scavenger hunt so new hires could work together and learn the hotel. 

Employees wanted more training. The department managers and I developed comprehensive training programs for the new employees. We introduced office hours with members of the Managing Committee so they could develop relationships with them and learn more about the hotel and the business of hospitality.

Managers wanted more training. I worked with the Corporate Training and Development Team to visit quarterly to give training on Leadership Skills. I worked with the Managing Committee on developing career paths for the managers. 

It was a lot of work and it was a team effort. Over the course of two years, we reduced turnover by 12%. It may not seem like a lot, but we saved money and had a huge impact on the employees’ lives. I didn’t spend as much money on job postings or job fairs. I didn’t spend as much time interviewing or in New Hire Orientation. I didn’t spend as much time offboarding or in exit interviews. I had fun working with the managers on new initiatives to save time and money. In the long run, we developed high performers that stayed with the company.