10 Ways to Reduce Employee Turnover

Employee turnover is expensive. The total cost of losing an employee can range from tens of thousands of dollars to 1.5-2X their annual salary; if you don’t believe us, calculate the cost of employee turnover to see just how much it’s digging into your business’s bottom line.

The numbers are startling. Although it’s nearly impossible to retain your employees for a lifetime, there are ways you can inspire long-term loyalty in your best team members. Here are 10 strategies to reduce employee turnover:

1. Hire the Best

The very first step in retaining your employees is to hire the best from the start. This means looking for applicants who have not only the necessary education and experience demanded by the job, but also for those who display a stable employment history with established tenure. What shows up on a background check can be very different than what’s reported on a resume, so don’t just assume that whatever is written down is factual. Conduct background check reports with ShareAble for Hires to ensure you’re getting the truth.

2. Be Competitive

In some cases, you’ll lose employees to recruiters who can offer a larger salary. If you aren’t able to offer competitive pay, make sure you offer competitive benefits. To keep your employees, they’ll need to be incentivized to stay. Whether that’s by offering retirement packages and insurance options, or allowing them to bring their furry friend with them to work, is up to you. But if your employee is contemplating leaving, you need to offer perks that incentivize them to stay.

3. Give Praise

Your staff is more likely to respect you if you respect them. Let them know how valued they are by commending good work wherever you see it. Written praise or verbal callouts can make an employee feel integral to your company’s success and motivate them to keep up the good work.

4. Create Career Paths

Those who receive frequent praise, in addition to anyone else on-boarded, should know that there’s room for upward mobility. If they can’t grow with your business and advance their career, they’ll go somewhere else where it’s possible. Show them the career path and the steps they need to take to move up it.

5. Conduct Regular Reviews

Holding regular quarterly or semi-annual employee reviews is a great tool for determining when someone might be due for a promotion. At the very least, employee experience management gives employees an opportunity to check in with their manager, ask any questions, voice any concerns, and let their thoughts be known. You may use a software from companies like Tivian to help you collect feedback and suggestions from your employees. They will appreciate being heard, as long as you or their superior actually acts on their feedback.

6. Allow Flexible Schedules

Your staff has a life outside of work, and the more understanding and accommodating you are about that, the more grateful they will be to you. Allow them to create their own work-life balance and adjust their own work time and location; they’ll be much less distracted and much more satisfied. If your business can’t offer work-from-home, you can still offer flexibility in different terms, such as paid time off or flexible lunchtimes. Then if you want more from your employees, the best way to do that is to give those employees really good benefits. There are platforms like FlexGenius (where you can easily give staff flexible employee benefits, so benefits matched to each employee) so this makes it very easy to set-up, so have a look at that.

7. Improve the Work Environment

If your office looks like it’s stuck in the 90s, it’s time for a face lift. Modernize your business to attract and retain young talent, and make sure they have all the tools in place needed to succeed.

8. Build Company Culture

Have a guiding mission statement that gives employees a reason for why they do what they do. Encourage friendly office relationships by hosting after-work events. By fostering a warm, open work environment and engaging company culture, you can prevent your employees from becoming board or dreading their job.

9. Read Your Reviews

Company culture transfers online and your staff will want to work for a business with a positive reputation. Maintain a good image on social media and Yelp by responding to customer concerns, and read your reviews on Glassdoor to ensure your employees are happy.

10. Hold Exit Interviews

Instead of giving a disgruntled employee an opportunity to leave a bad review, conduct an exit interview on their way out so they can vent and express themselves directly. If they offer negative feedback, pay close attention; make notes as to how you can make corrections, and let them know how much you value their thoughts. They just might decide to stay.

Employees come and go, and you unfortunately can’t keep them all. But by following these 10 steps you can dramatically cut down the rate at which they leave, benefiting both your business and your employees’ career path.