4 Reasons Why Your Turnover Rate is High

[Today’s guest post was written by Kelly Gregorio.]

As an employer, turnover costs your business time, money, and some completely avoidable stress. By reviewing your current management methods and with a willingness to make some reasonable adjustments, you cannot only retain more employees, but fulfill them in the process. Read on to discover how to stop your turnover rate in its tracks.

What Culture?

Sure, your employees may understand their individual duties and goals, but what are you doing to communicate to your team the concept and importance of the whole? Whether it is through a weekly email or pep talk, be sure to continually remind your team of your company’s values and ideals.

If an employee is solely focused on their own job, they may come to think that they can do that job anywhere else. You need to root your employees in by means of your unique culture. Share it, live it, and make sure everyone has the opportunity to be motivated by the visions of the whole.

Engagement Falls By The Wayside

While there are tasks at hand and necessary duties to fulfill, there is also some room for a social connection to be made. Within reason, inquire about your employee’s lives outside of the workplace. What is their family life like?  What are their personal hobbies and interests? If you can connect with the person behind the position, chances are their loyalty to you and the company will increase.

Incentive Wasteland

Keep motivation and engagement on high with incentives that will keep employees coming back for more. Sales goals rewarded with gift cards, a perk parking space, or an early release Friday will keep employees’ interests. Also, don’t discount the value of verbal praise. An employee who feels cared about will in most cases, return the favor.

While you may not be able to grant pay raises with the swipe of a magic wand, you can present a path of promise. Map out a projected plan for a promising employee who wants more pay. Provide them with goals and checkpoints and timelines that—if they follow and fulfill—will result in a pay raise. Knowing that a bigger paycheck is within their reach could have your employee pouring more focus into the job they have, rather than inputting the effort and energy into finding a new one.

Damage Control Does Not Exist

After a staff member chooses to leave, keep the rest of your staff from seeking greener pastures by making the effort to inject some employee morale. Address the situation with your staff and be sure that the additional workload does not get put on anyone else’s shoulders.

A simple conversation detailing what people like and don’t like about the current stage of their positions and a willingness to make reasonable accommodations may be all it takes to keep others on board. Make the effort to save the rest of your staff from jumping ship by reminding them how much you value their effort and by responding to their individual input and needs.

What other steps can you take to lower your turnover rate?

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Kelly Gregorio writes about topics that affect small businesses and entrepreneurs while working at Advantage Capital Funds, a merchant cash advance provider. You can read her daily business blog here.