In early 2023, the Harvard Business Review published an article discussing the trends shaping work for the same year and beyond. Though 2022 was a year full of business challenges, 2023 was not any better.
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Businesses continue to face the issues of economic downturn, an exhausted workforce, a highly competitive landscape, and employee turnover. Will these trends define work in 2024 too? Employee turnover, for one, has been an ongoing problem across various industries.
There are many reasons why employees may choose to quit a company, including low pay, poor culture, micromanagement, and a lack of professional development. The average turnover rate for companies in the US and Canada was 17.3% in 2023.
Do you wish to steer clear of losing valuable employees? Then, keep reading. This article will discuss four strategies to reduce the chances of employee turnover (that work!) and reduce employee turnover overall.
Offer Flexible Work Policies
It is said that a company’s greatest assets are its employees. Though they help bring in profits, you must not forget that they are humans at the end of the day. One can only work non-stop for a set number of hours each day.
After that, it is natural to lose motivation due to physical strain or mental pressure. If an employee feels trapped in a rigid work policy, they may bail out. To prevent that from happening, offer flexible work policies that bring about a healthy work-life balance.
This can directly mean complete avoidance of micromanagement, even of remote employees. However, flexible work policies can take the form of other corporate perks, including –
- Paid paternity leave
- Paid maternity leave longer than eight weeks
- Regular company trips
- Paid time off for community service
- No tracking days
- Freedom to log out once the work for a day is over
- Provisions for delays in case of valid reasons
Keep in mind that a strict nine-to-five is dead. If you wish to retain your top talent, flexibility in work policies is a must.
Create Opportunities for Professional Development
Ambitious employees join a company with high hopes of growing as workers and as individuals. If they feel that their growth is stagnant, you may receive a resignation letter the very next day. 86% of employees in a survey agreed that they would quit a company for better professional development opportunities.
This means you must invest in your employee’s growth in order to grow. Yes, we are talking about rigorous training programs and learning opportunities. According to NIIT, the training module should be flexible enough to incorporate in-person and virtual instructor-led learning.
This process can seem a bit overwhelming, which is why you can choose custom tools provided by the leading managed learning services provider in your area. You will receive all the necessary resources to train effectively, track performance, and monitor the learning ROI. In due course, your employees’ productivity will improve and so will their motivation to continue working and you can reduce employee turnover.
Improve Manager-Employee Relationships
Another top reason why employees decide to resign is a strained relationship with their manager. Those with an amiable working relationship with their seniors are less likely to call it quits.
Remember that the employee may not always be at fault. You must encourage them to cooperate with their respective managers. However, managers must also possess the required leadership skills for stronger relationships with those under them. This can be done through the following –
- Manager training – Managers can be trained to develop vital skills like communication, conflict resolution, delegation, and strategic interviewing.
- Clear expectations – Prevent potential mistakes by having managers delegate responsibilities carefully. They must convey clear instructions to all team members so that everyone knows what to expect and what is expected of them.
- One-on-one meetings – Let managers organize face-to-face (or video-conferencing) meetings with each of their direct reports. They can use these meetings to establish a good rapport and discuss progress and feedback.
Implement Employee Feedback
Sometimes, business owners complicate the process more than it is. In other words, you need not always find yourself guessing the reasons behind employee turnover. Just ask and your team will be happy to provide their feedback. The following strategies will help –
- Conduct stay interviews to discover what your employees enjoy about their role in the company. You can also ask them about the areas that need improvement. Exit interviews are also useful in making the work culture better. However, stay interviews focus more on changes that can be implemented to prevent a two-week notice.
- You can send quarterly or half-yearly employee engagement surveys to find out about general job satisfaction. The responses can be kept anonymous for 100% transparency. The feedback provided in such surveys becomes a valuable tool to improve work culture for better retention rates.
The cost of employee turnover is exorbitantly high. It can cost a company up to twice the employee’s salary to replace them. This only goes on to highlight the importance of keeping employees engaged and happy. Just follow the tips in this article and you will reduce employee turnover and enjoy a full house for years to come.
