Turnover rate: What you can do to lower it
No one wants to spend more time hiring and rehiring, and recruiting and keeping top talent for your business probably seems like a constant part of your job. Having a strategy to keep your turnover rate low will benefit you both immediately with hiring the right person the first time and also by not having to hire their replacement when it turns out to be the wrong fit.
Nationally, across all industries, the turnover rate for employees is about 15.1 percent, but health-care industries have an even higher national average turnover rate of 16.8 percent. There is no magic wand to make turnover issues go away, but, if you are experiencing a high turnover rate, here are some questions to ask yourself that could be impacting your turnover rate:
Have you changed your source of employees?
Some companies love hiring friends, others hate it. What about family? For those of you that don’t know, WHS is family owned, and there are pros and cons, for sure. It might be time for a change in where you are getting your applicants. Try looking in new places than the same places you always go to to find your next batch of employees.
Have you tried partnering with trade schools to get the pick of the litter? We are blessed to be located around a lot of sources of higher education and trade schools. Think about reaching out to the local universities like TCC, OSU, OU, Tulsa Tech, RSU or NSU and finding the best and the brightest students for skilled, manual or technical positions. It is rare these days to have college graduates that have good, practical work experience. There are some extremely bright people that have never lifted a shovel or turned a wrench. This allows you to groom the next level management that has practical experience in your field.
Do staffing agencies allow internal resources to be dedicated to the task at hand and let the “experts” help? Or do you find yourself doing most of the work because they don’t know your business?
If so, what are you really getting and how can you change it? Partner with one group that can prove to you they will focus the attention on your company and learning what you need. This requires time on both ends, but it is well worth the investment.
Do you treat temporary employees like everyone else?
If so, why? If not, why not? People see how all employees are treated, and temporary employees may someday be permanent. Treat everyone with the respect and civility they deserve, and they will not only be more loyal temporary employees but overall employee morale will improve.
Are you communicating well with current employees? Do they understand the perks associated with the company?
What other perks do you offer and are you communicating these with prospective team mates? Do you remind them about the company’s core values, mission and goals? Do your employees understand the fringe benefits that may come with their job like a phone, cafeteria allowances, spending account, or others? Create clear communication channels like an internal newsletter, poster campaign or personal mailing to current employees to educate them about the good stuff you’re doing and offering!
Millennials are making a big impact on the new work force. Do we need to change our expectations and the way we manage them? A wise woman recently told me that when they hire a millennial they do so knowing they will produce 25% less than their older peers. To me this statement is crazy, but they successfully recruit, train and utilize a strong force of millennials. Millennials are obviously more tech savvy, but also come from a time when expectations were less. We’re not saying that you should tolerate an employee that produces less than he or she should, but do take this into consideration that they may work slower or produce less. If you can shift your perspective, you can learn to appreciate millennials for the unique skills they do bring to the table.
Is there a department/position that has the highest turnover? Look for trends in your turnover rate. Are they coming from the same department? Is one particular supervisor causing issues? Is it from the same type of employee? Would more training help for any of these trends? Isolating the area that has high turnover will allow you to concentrate your efforts
At the end of the day, Work Health Solutions wants all of our customers to grow, retain and improve their workforces. This is good for everyone: the company, the employees, the community and everyone in between.
If you ever want to sit down for a brainstorming session to figure out ways to lower turnover rates, please contact Jeremy Green. “Best case, we design a brilliant strategy that is easy to execute and produces a positive result,” Green said. “Worst case, we throw a lot of ideas at the wall and hope that one sticks. Through the genius of our friends in the community, we have several strategies that can apply to just about any business. We’d love to help you, if this is an issue for you and your business.”
