If you are looking to reduce employee turnover, this extended article shows you how to proceed. The individual steps are designed so you can tailor them to your precise situation; deploying only those retention measures that will be cost effective.
These are the steps, each of which is explained in brief below, and in more detail on its own separate page.
Estimating the cost of employee turnover
Analysing recent departures
Determining your targets
Selecting appropriate retention measures
To reduce employee turnover you should seek to solve those problems that have been causing previous departures and look to improve your employee value proposition.
The key to reducing employee turnover is make sure your retention measures are highly targeted.
The first step is to estimate the cost of employee turnover. This should be done for the different groups of employees; for example administrative, technical, managers etc.
In most circumstances a good starting point is to use the available research based figures. These are broad estimates but serve the purpose, which is to give you a sense of the scale of the problem, and assist you in determining retention priorities later on.
Where the cost of turnover is minimal, you should not be investing large amounts to reduce turnover. Conversely, where the cost is significant, it may be appropriate to invest more in retention interventions.
The next step is to examine all available data regarding recent employee turnover. Pay careful attention to your definition of turnover.
Look for exit points, trends, areas of high and low turnover. Breakdown the information into its component parts. Compare your figures against appropriate benchmarks.
Analysis will help you to discover particular troublespots in need of attention. As a rule highly targeted retention interventions are more effective than broader measures
The previous two steps will have generated some useful information to assist you in determining where to focus your attentions.
In addition you may wish to consider specific individuals or groups of individuals that have not been experiencing high levels of turnover to date, but are high risk either due to the cost of turnover, or due to the likelihood of them leaving.
Think carefully about which employees you really need to keep hold of.
Once you have determined which categories to target, the next step is to diagnose the causes of turnover for each of these categories.
Make use of both qualitative and quantitative approaches to get the most accurate diagnosis.
Beware of exit interview data. Research to date suggests it should be viewed with extreme caution.
Without a strong employee value proposition you run the risk of continuing to lose employees, just for different reasons.
Compare your employee value proposition against those of your competitors, then conduct internal market research to gain a deeper understanding of your employees' needs, aspirations and preferences.
Look to see where you can increase value for employees at minimal cost to the company.
Retention focused orientation
Retention focused recognition
There is a wide range of interventions to choose from, but make sure you select appropriate ones. Be careful to assess the return on investment before deciding which interventions to execute.
Finally, execute your strategy. Get feedback and adjust where necessary. Determine the real return on investment for the project and communicate the results to interested parties.
During the months of June, July and August of 2007 you can download for free my 43 page guide on employee retention strategies.
So if you're reading this during June, July or August of 2007 then do take advantage of this special offer. Simply click on the link and it should appear.
Posted at 08:40 AM in Employee Retention Strategies | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Risk Analysis - Likely To Leave
Predicting which employees are most likely to leave requires some thought. Some of the most common factors to look out for include:
MBA status, gaining professional qualifications, will often lead to an individual seeking immediate career advancement.
Employees that have just missed out on a promotion, failed to make partner status etc, tend to feel unwanted, making them a high risk of turnover.
Where a close friend leaves, a trusted manager or mentor, the breakup of a group of friends.
A new manager, a new leader, a different way of doing things, a perceived threat.
Where a pattern of high employee turnover exists it tends to continue unless intervention occurs.
Such as the end of a project. For some employees there is a natural tendency to move after the summer holidays.
Illness, marriage, divorces, births and deaths can trigger a need for a change; be it a different work-life balance, a career break or a new job.
If the market for their specific skill is buoyant, expect employees to be checking out potential opportunities, talking to recruitment consultants, reading the job vacancies.
The first few weeks and months are often a difficult period for new recruits, who may miss aspects of their previous employment, such as familiar faces, emotional support, knowing who to ask for help.
Many employees chose to leave as soon as golden handcuffs payout.
Frequency Of Previous Moves
Some people like change. Two year stays are fairly common. Young people tend to be more frequent movers than older employees.
Posted at 10:02 AM in Turnover Risk Analysis | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Retaining Top Employees - Book Review
Retaining Top Employees - McKeown
"There is no prescriptive, generic answer to the question of employee retention. No single plan that fits every situation." So says Leslie McKeown, the author of Retaining Top Employees.
As he quite rightly points out, no strategy can make people stay, so you are far better off concentrating on people and not an overly sophisticated strategy that may miss the target.
His recipe for success involves:
Envisioning your retention strategy
Deciding which retention tools to use
Intelligent use of orientation
Maintaining retention through the employment life cycle
Look to target those employees you really need to keep. Discover what you need to do by asking the right questions.
Ask: Why didn`t you stay?
Other points of interest he raises include getting away from induction, instead moving towards orientation, so that employees can feel at home as quickly as possible, becoming productive faster.
Overall a rather patchy book.