You’ve got yourself a talented team of people that are skilled in their jobs – of course, you don’t want to lose them. Employees are the most valuable asset to your business and a high turnover of them can cripple your business.
Job vacancies have been at their highest in the UK which means that candidates have had more choice and therefore employers have struggled to fill positions. The power seems to lie more in the hands of the candidate and employee rather than the employer.
Employees leaving their job cost the company more money that it does the employee. Recruitment costs, time spent on recruiting and interviews all cost the business money. Not to mention the time that it takes the successful candidate to become fully skilled within their role.
Keeping employee retention at a low and maintaining the happiness of employees is in the best interest of the employer and employee.
How can you encourage employees to stay?
It’s important to remember that 77% of staff turnover is preventable but you’ll never be able to stop from leaving your business completely.
Career Development
A common reason for people leaving their job is because they’re not getting the career development they want. It’s worth ensuring you’re taking the time to assess your employee’s development.
This can be done by creating personal development plans, 1 to 1’s and talking to your employees about where and how they’d like to progress, as well as identifying weaknesses to work on.
Work-life Balance
Many employees are not happy with strict 9-5 working hours and their commuting time can also lead to them feeling dissatisfied.
To combat this, you can offer trusted employees the opportunity to work from home, ensure their duties can all be done within the working day and by also introducing flexitime.
Bad Management
The saying ‘you don’t leave a bad job, you leave a bad manager’ has been around for quite some time. Although not always true, bad management is a large percentage of the reason to people leaving their jobs.
The business should be providing managers with appropriate training courses and ensuring managers have the tools and time to effectively manage their employees.
Wellbeing
Mental health and wellbeing of employees are critically important as it not only affects their performance but also how happy they are at work.
To help overall wellbeing, many employers offer wellbeing packages such as yoga classes, massages, and other therapeutic sessions. If an employee is going through a particularly bad time, it’s often best to be accommodating to their circumstances and ensure you check in on them without being pushy.
Salary and Benefits
35 % of employees look for a new job if they don’t get a rise in 12 months. Employees need to be rewarded for their increase in skills and ability to do their job. There should be yearly salary reviews and employers and employees should be aware of a clear plan of progression and the reward at hand when goals are met.
Unpaid sick leave is also a common reason people may leave their job. When an employee has an unexpected illness, the last thing they want is to worry about how they’re going to pay their bills because they’ve not been paid.
Maximillion created the following infographic that looks at the most common reasons that employees leave their job in depth with some shocking statistics. There are also further tips that can be taken to ensure your valuable employees want to stay at your company.
About the author: Becca Armstrong is a freelance writer for Maximillion, specialists in event management, team building, and communications.
