3 Key Factors Affecting Employee Retention
Every year in the fourth quarter, employees are on the move, considering job changes, and HR and managers are dealing with the wave of resignations. Regarding internal staff turnover, companies can examine and analyze whether employee departures are part of a healthy turnover or an abnormal loss of valuable talents.
If a company is losing its top talent and wants to retain them, it can use exit interviews to understand the reasons and make improvements. It's also essential to pay attention to employees' situations on a regular basis, improve any organizational factors that might cause employee dissatisfaction, and proactively prevent talent loss.
Talent Is Always Coming And Going
I once heard a podcast where a CEO shared their mindset about employee resignations. Initially, they felt a sense of rejection when an employee resigned, or they questioned if they had done something wrong. However, they eventually adjusted their mindset. They viewed colleagues in the workplace as temporary partners during a specific period of collaboration. If an employee found better opportunities, they wished them well. If an employee couldn't keep up with the company's growth, they let them go, and they started to see employee resignations in a positive light.
In other words, if employee resignations occur at a normal frequency, it can be considered a healthy turnover. However, if there is unhealthy turnover, such as suddenly high resignation rates, and all the resigning employees are top performers, then the organization needs to address the problem.
Jack Ma once said that the departure of excellent employees can be attributed to two reasons: inadequate compensation and feeling wronged. Therefore, supervisors and HR can examine whether an employee's resignation is due to a misalignment between their performance and compensation or if there are organizational issues causing dissatisfaction.
The Impact of Organizational Culture and Work Processes on Retention
In one company I came across, a certain department had an extremely high turnover rate of nearly 30% for the year. Through official channels and informal conversations, the reasons were mostly attributed to the leadership style of the managers, excessive working hours, cumbersome organizational processes, and poor inter-departmental communication.
In other words, while organizational culture and atmosphere may seem abstract and intangible, they deeply affect employees' willingness to stay. Even if the compensation and benefits exceed industry standards, it might not be enough to retain employees. Consequently, this situation leads to a chain reaction: employees continue to leave, vacancies remain unfilled, and the workload on remaining employees increases, often to the point of becoming overwhelming.
So, if a lot of workers are quitting, this can be a message to bosses. It may mean problems in the company. Sometimes, employees quit because they've been unhappy a long time. They keep quiet about it but decide to go anyway, even if the boss tries to keep them.
Thus, bosses should keep tabs on how their workers are doing, day by day. For example, looking at how long employees work can tell the boss if workers feel overworked.
Heads up! Listen to work complaints, or any issues with company rules that slow down progress. Match the work to the worker's skills too. Take care of these, so workers aren't upset all the time.
Listen, nowadays workers aren't just about the money or the promotions. They don't want to just put up with stuff. They like clear, straightforward talking and a positive work place. So bosses need to always focus on clear, honest talking. Got it?
Improvement through Communication and Empathy
In addition, supervisors can ask themselves, "What reasons make me/employees want to stay with the current company?" They can engage in casual conversations with employees from time to time to discuss the above questions, gaining insights into their thoughts. They should regularly assess whether the reasons top-performing employees choose to stay still exist.
Apart from salary and benefits exceptional employees consider factors when evaluating their job satisfaction. These include the clarity of their assigned job objectives, opportunities for growth and skill utilization and whether the job aligns with their abilities while offering challenges.
To ensure that annual goals are effectively set supervisors should carefully consider the department's direction and work plans. It is crucial to involve employees in discussing their career development, the skills they aspire to develop in their roles and strike a balance between organizational goals and employee preferences.
Additionally family related matters as physical and mental health concerns often contribute to employee resignations. In cases HR can review company policies regarding working hours and work life balance. Offering options like schedules, generous leave policies mandated by law or providing access to occupational health professionals can significantly contribute to employees well being.
In Summary
In summary, taking measures is vital for enhancing employee retention. Managers can collaborate with HR to assess the organization's situation and talent management practices. Moreover HR can proactively monitor employee well being. Provide improvement suggestions to supervisors.
