Time. We all want more if it.
"I could get more done if I just had more time." Sound familiar? 
Now imagine if some of your (already limited) time is sucked up due to employee turnover. You may be living this right now.
Cost of Turnover
There’s an expense when we lose employees – made up of both hard and soft costs. According to a recent study by Gallup, employee turnover can range from one-half to two times the employee's annual salary -- and that's a conservative estimate.
However, this is just the cost of lost productivity, overtime, recruiting, background checks, training, and other measurable costs. It doesn’t account for other significant costs such as:
- Reduced customer satisfaction
- Lost institutional knowledge – especially of highly tenured employees
- Over-burdening remaining employees, leading to more turnover
- Cultural impact - whenever someone leaves others notice and ask why
- Poor reputation when trying to hire new employees
There’s something I’ve learned over the years. When an employee is unhappy, especially a good one, they’re unhappy for quite some time.
Below are common signs of a discontented employee.
- Discuss their dissatisfaction with trusted colleagues
- Volunteer for fewer projects
- Devote energy to looking for new opportunities
Being able to proactively address turnover helps both the organization and its people thrive, and it starts with building trust and rapport with employees.
4 T’s to Tackle Turnover
There are countless HR solutions to engage and retain employees with varying degrees of success. However, in my 20+ years of being in the HR business, I found the following to be consistently relevant across time and industry. Let’s dig into a few behaviors that can help minimize turnover and lost time.
Trusting Relationships
Managers who earn and maintain the trust of their team have set the foundation for successful relationships. The same holds true for peers. A trusting environment is evident when there’s leadership driving the culture and displaying behaviors that demonstrate trust.
Leaders who regularly walk the talk and have high integrity are more likely to have trusting relationships. They deepen trust by reducing conflict through realistic prioritization of tasks and providing unwavering support in all aspects of work. These leaders also know that trust is like a sandcastle…it takes a while to build, and just one wave to wipe it away.
Transparent Communication
Trust comes more readily with transparency. I’ve had leaders who have shown their trust in me by being completely transparent, and I’ve had leaders who said they trusted me but held back important information that could have helped me be more effective. The difference? Those who have shown their trust in me got much more of my trust in return. Plus, gaining their trust inspired and motivated me to higher levels of productivity and engagement.
Maybe you can’t get to full transparency, and that’s okay. Just realize that employees want (and deserve) to understand what’s going on in the organization and the impact actions or situations will have on them. The more you can be transparent, the higher level of trust you’ll create.
Transformative Culture
Most people I know like to work at organizations that have a culture which supports things like growth, flexibility, and diversity. As a matter of fact, I know a number of people who left organizations that refused to evolve and transform to stay relevant regarding HR solutions.
Let’s consider opportunities for development, for example. We know that professional growth is not limited to upward mobility. However, if there aren’t opportunities for continual learning or employee development, you’ll quickly lose top performers who are eager to improve their skills and build their career.
People may also decide to leave if benefits (health, wellness, time off, etc.) or work schedule/location aren’t meeting their needs. Increasing flexibility and avoiding a ‘one-size fits all’ approach supports a culture focused on retention and sends a message to the employee that they matter as a person.
Thankful
We all have things to be thankful for, even on our darkest days. Showing appreciation is key to retention and helps reinforce the right behaviors. Failing to recognize employee achievements and celebrate successes will make employees feel undervalued. If they believe that their contributions to the company aren’t appreciated, they’ll begin to disengage from their work and seek employment elsewhere.
So take the time to recognize and thank your employees for achievements, big and small. It may just make the difference in engagement needed for retention.
At the End of the Day
Time is money. And money is, well, money.
Before you lose any more of either, proactively address any early warning signs of employee dissatisfaction by being trustworthy, transparent and open to transformational approaches. You won’t be the only one who’s thankful.
