With the UK job market recovering at a fast pace, and the majority of sectors facing a skills shortage – it’s no surprise that talented people in the UK are being headhunted, and employee turnover is becoming more of an issue.
The above statement begs the question: if your best employees were approached with another job opportunity, would they stay with you?
If you didn’t automatically think “yes” to yourself once you’d read that – you either think they’d leave, or; you can’t be sure they’d stay. Both should be equally eye-opening.
Employee turnover becomes problematic when it starts to have a negative impact on your business. But, that doesn’t mean to say you should only address this once it starts to become an issue. The trick is in making sure it never gets that bad.
Below are some of our main considerations when reviewing employee turnover:
It’s not all about salary
The amount of times we hear important members of a company say that their employees won’t leave because they pay them well – it’s pretty scary.
One of the most difficult hurdles to get over when it comes to addressing your employee turnover is to come to terms with the fact that you can pay someone all of the money in the world, but that won’t make them stay.
Would you stay in a job that makes you miserable, just because they pay you more than others would? People are willing to take a pay-cut if it means they’re going to be happier in their job.
Whilst you’ll find that your employees won’t stay because you pay them well – they also won’t stay if you pay them poorly. Find the middle-ground, and you’ll be better placed to identify the real reasons for your employees leaving.
Company culture matters
It’s no secret that the culture of your company is strongly correlated with the happiness of your employees. When employees love the culture – they’re happy and productive. When they dislike the culture – they’re miserable and unmotivated.
This is a tricky one to identify. It’s highly unlikely that you’ll look around the office and see that all of your employees are miserable – and it’s just as unlikely to see that all of your employees are happy.
Finding the gaps in your employee culture comes through talking to your employees – what do they enjoy? What don’t they enjoy?
Develop your professionals
Career progression and development are near the top of the agenda for every employee. They want opportunities to advance their careers – not just work solely for the sake of their employer.
I don’t want you to get the wrong impression from this – your employees won’t want to move up the ladder just for the pay rise. This will just be seen as an added extra.
Your employees will want to feel like you appreciate and recognise the hours of work that they’re putting in for the business. This appreciation is reflected in promotions and career development opportunities.
Would you stay in a job if you didn’t feel valued?
It costs a lot to hire an employee. On top of salary expenses, there are also benefits to be paid and costs associated with recruiting and onboarding. Identifying why your top talent leave your business can help you to stop it from happening in future.
Taking all of the above into account when reviewing your employee turnover can help paint a broader picture of why your employees are leaving, and help you to pinpoint specific pressure points within your employee culture.
For what reasons are your employees leaving?
