What is your organization’s ability to retain the brightest, most experienced and dedicated staff! These are the people who keep everything running smoothly day after day.
Personnel gurus are projecting that when economy repairs itself, turnover rates in many organizations are likely to skyrocket. A study by PreVisor Corporation reported that 68% of companies are concerned about retaining employees during the economic recovery while 54% concerned about recruitment. Now is the time to plan before opportunities begin opening up.
Many employers are strategic about decisions effecting employee satisfaction levels. The models for these kind of organizations are Southwest Airlines, Wegman’s Super Markets, Zappos, Joie de Vivre Hotels just to name a few. Other organizations see turnover as an inevitable part of the cost of doing business. Of course, some turnover is inevitable.
Some staff will leave to continue an education or follow a spouse. Others are offered life-changing opportunities that should not be turned down. Too often however, turnover decisions do not represent a move forward in the life of the employee. It means they were sick and tired of poor supervisors so they took a similar job for 10 cents more an hour. Managers and organizational leaders shrug their shoulders about these separations seeing the problem as financial. Rarely is money the real or only reason why people leave a job. Successful organizations manage turnover and they will always have a leg up on the competition.
Managing turnover is a solid strategic decision. It needs to be an ongoing priority. First, you need to objectively evaluate your scorecard. Here are thirteen characteristics of organizations with high turnover. If you decide that four or more are true for your organization then it is time to take action and to establish a retention plan.
You may have a turnover problem if you:
=>> Spend too much money on overtime
=>> Have significant recruitment advertising costs
=>> Pay employees $10 an hour or less; they are prime turnover candidates
=>> Have supervisors doing lower level worker tasks
=>> Have Supervisors covering shifts during vacancies
=>> Do not regularly analyze employee half-life, new employee first year retention, short term turnover and other turnover rate calculations
=>> Do not regularly analyze the hard and soft costs of separation and replacement of employees.
=>> Find yourself cutting back on program activities or organizational plans because you are short staffed
=>> Use Temp Agencies to supply temporary or locum tenens workers
=>> Have critical incidents resulting from staff mistakes that tie up manager’s time in investigations
=>> Have high daily absenteeism
=>> Have employees who are present but not fully engaged in their work.
=>> Feel like you are a training ground for your competitors
So, how are you doing? Is it time to plan for better staff retention? The benefits of lower turnover and higher retention are vast. Resolving any of these thirteen areas will save you money and create program efficiencies and quality you cannot presently imagine.
This kind of strategic planning takes time and a team. But it can be done. You may need to engage technical assistance.. Whatever you need to do, do it now because the rewards you will reap will far outstrip the cost of your investment.