High turnover is incredibly expensive so how do we stop it?
Aside from the headache leadership deals with when it comes to high turnover rates, the actual cost associated is high, and based on our current workforce, doesn’t seem to be slowing down.
When a company loses talent, there suddenly becomes more stress on the talent that sticks around, the customer experience may go down, there’s a definite lost opportunity cost – and then there’s the hiring, onboarding, and training cost to bring new talent in. If the role is one of a skilled professional, on the low end, a corporation can expect to shell out 20% of that position’s first-year salary. On the high end, that number could jump to 100% of the first-year salary or more.
Motivation Hack
The real key for any organization, to reduce turnover, is to ensure their talent is more motivated to stay than they are to leave. Simple, right? There are plenty of ways to go about doing this which means every organization is tasked with creating their own retention strategy. Imagine a culture in which every single employee is not only excited to show up to work each day, but they are also invested in their own contribution because they believe it is impactful and important.
This thought process can begin in the initial onboarding and training process, a vital time with new hires that is often rushed, overlooked or performed poorly. When you’re onboarding and training new talent, create training that alleviates their emotions and anxieties coming in.
This might mean ditching the outdated powerpoint and instead placing them in real-life working scenarios so, from the beginning, they understand what will be expected of them and what it will look like.
By setting them up for success from the very beginning, you are establishing a belief in them that they can and will be successful in their new role.
Compensation Correlation
Corporations have been put on blast over the past few years, when it comes to pay and benefits. In order to establish stability with talent, they need to feel stable also in what you’re offering them. Fair compensation is the starting point for the relationship and commitment you are building with that individual. Our labor market is stressed, making turnover more expensive. And those funds could be more appropriately used on retaining talent by offering security. Along with compensation, opportunities for growth are important and should be identified early in the onboarding process.
By establishing the potential for a long-term professional relationship early on, you are creating a vision between your company and your new hire. The same is true for long-term talent. They need to know, and be reminded often, of their trajectory, their contribution, their value and their opportunity.
Toxicity Unravels Retention
A lot of corporations participate in unconscious toxicity. This is where leaders are so excited for growth, they have a “whatever it takes” mentality. This isn’t always a negative thing, but what tends to happen is boundaries and workloads get blurred in the process because the leadership is focused on hard numbers and moving forward at any cost. Their intention is not to create a toxic culture or to overwork talent, but that is usually what ends up happening.
High turnover rates are letting you know there is something wrong within your culture or organization, and it needs to be addressed. Normalizing balance, a healthy workload and clear job descriptions/expectations that are abided by, will help you retain talent.
Retention Roundup:
- Solidify and individualize your hiring and onboarding process.
- Be clear, from the beginning, about expectations and opportunities.
- Offer fair compensation and benefits with the potential for growth.
- Build balance into your culture. Overworking talent will cause them to leave.
- Eliminate unconscious toxicity.
- Create space for feedback and transparent communication.
- Make it as easy as possible for your teams to be great at their jobs.
