employee

Do you have a revolving door of employees who seem to leave as fast as you hire them? Employee turnover can be costly, both financially and psychologically. But there are some steps you can take to reduce turnover and improve bottom-line.

By Bhavika Sharma

1. Demonstrate respect for employees

Respect is a big word, right? It’s in employment manuals, articles and also the chorus of some of the most popular songs. But what does it actually mean in the workplace? And why does it matter?

Many teams don’t fully understand the ramifications of a disrespectful work environment. Not only does it put the company and individual at risk for workplace harassment lawsuits, but numerous studies show that disrespectful work environments lead to a disengaged, unhappy workforce.

In fact, a recent Gallup poll estimates that in the U.S. alone, employers spend more than 300 billion dollars annually due to disengaged employees. A respectful workplace fosters security, appreciation, and efficiency.

When the tone of your office is professional and respectful, employees are much more likely to keep crude jokes to themselves. Companies can also use online survey software to conduct an employee feedback survey on a regular basis to obtain crucial feedback that concern your work environment, employees, and bottom line.

2. Hire the right and smart candidates

Hiring and selecting employees is not an easy task. It takes skill and an understanding of the process and how to do it well. There are 3 essential elements to make sure that hiring is done effectively. Together, you will have a winning combination and essentially, you will be hiring a star performer. Here’s a look at the 3 key elements:

Hire for Skill fit

It’s important that you hire candidates with the right skills, knowledge, and experience for the job. And that’s what the resume is going to tell you. Of course, you are going to verify that through background checks, references, and an interview. The skill fit is really looking at the history of the person, their past, and determining whether they have the skills fit for the job.

Hire for Company fit

This is where you want to see if the person is going to fit with the team and if they are going to work well with the boss. Sometimes people may have the right skills, but they may come from a very large company and may not fit ideally with a smaller company. They may be used to working with a lot of procedures, structure, and smaller companies tend not to have much of that.

Hire for job fit

Job fit is done through the use of assessment. When you are interviewing somebody and looking at their resume, you’re only seeing what they present to you. You’re not really seeing below the surface. That’s often called the ‘iceberg effect’. You want to go below the surface and look deeper into that person. You could use advanced interviewing techniques. Having an assessment tool will help you see where the person fits and where they don’t.

3. Offer Competitive Pay and Benefits

All candidates want to be compensated well. And if you’re not paying them well, they will look for a company that will. Conduct market research to find out the ideal wage for candidates across all job profiles. And ensure that you offer a competitive salary range for similar positions in your local area. But you simply can’t offer good pay and get it over with. Employees expect an additional reward after a year’s hard work. Find out interesting ways to compensate your employees, whether it’s with a gift card, team shopping spree, themed team lunch, or an impromptu time off.

4. Help Employees Advance Along Their Career Paths

If employees are taking up the same tasks every day, their performance is likely to dwindle one day. And this encourages them to look for jobs where they know they can really advance. Most employees want an opportunity to increase their knowledge and skills to realize their true potential. Letting employees know what you’ve envisioned for them will give them a sense of direction and purpose.

5. Allow Flexible Work Schedules

Finding a balance between work and personal life can majorly improve the quality of work and personal responsibilities for employees. This affects productivity, absenteeism, and turnover. Work flexibility doesn’t mean employees work less, but it’s a way to keep them engaged and perform well. Flexible work schedules allow employees to meet the demands of their busy lives, while still getting work done.

6. Communicate Your Vision

Communicating your vision to employees gives them an idea of what you envision to accomplish in a time frame and also helps employees set individual goals. It helps in aligning your goals with that of your employees. If every employee has a fair idea of how they can contribute to the company’s goals, it’s more likely for everyone to harmoniously work towards achieving them.

It’s not possible to completely eliminate employee turnover. But, finding out why and how it happens and implementing all the right strategies will minimize its effect on your business.

Bhavika Sharma is a survey designer at SurveySparrow, where she designs surveys that work by making them more conversational and engaging, fetching 40% more responses. When she isn’t designing killer surveys, she loves to travel in search of adventure and to meet new people. Her travel experiences have taught her the importance of conversation and that is what she brings to the table while creating surveys or content for her readers.

Employee Turnover stock photo by Andrii Yalanskyi/Shutterstock