9 Tips to Reduce Employee Turnover

A Future Workplace and Kronos study has found that 87% of employers said that improving retention is a critical priority for their organization. And it’s no surprise why. Turnover can cost organizations anywhere from 16% to 213% of the lost employee’s salary (Center for American Progress). Add that cost to the fact that 51% of employees are considering new jobs (Gallup) and it’s obvious that retention is important.

So what can you do to help reduce employee turnover? Here are 11 tips.

1. Hire the right people

The best way to ensure employees don’t leave you is to make sure you are hiring the right employees to begin with. Define the role clearly, both to yourself and to the candidates. And then be absolutely sure the candidate is a fit not only for the role, but for your organization’s culture as well.

2. Fire people who don’t fit

Even though you may be hiring the right employees, you will still, undoubtedly get an employee or two, that just don’t fit. And no matter how effective they might be at their actual work, an employee who is a bad fit is bad for your culture, and that can create a toxic environment. They will do more damage than good by polluting the culture of your company.

3. Keep compensation and benefits current

Be sure that you are paying employees the fair going wage for their work (or better) and offer them competitive benefits. If you’re not, you can’t really blame them for leaving you. This may seem obvious, but it’s surprising how few companies offer raises that keep up with an employee’s development and actual rising worth.

4. Encourage generosity and gratitude

Encourage pro-social behavior in your employees.When they are given the opportunity to connect with one another through acts of generosity and the expression of gratitude, employees will be healthier, happier, and less likely to leave.

5. Recognize and reward employees

Show your employees they are value and appreciated by offering them real-time recognition that celebrate their success and their efforts. Make it specific, social, and supported by tangible reward, and you, too, will be rewarded with their loyalty.

6. Offer flexibility

Today’s employees crave a flexible life/work balance. That impacts retention directly. In fact, a Boston College Center for Work & Family study found that 76% of managers and 80% of employees indicated that flexible work arrangements had positive effects on retention.

7. Pay attention to engagement

This may sound obvious, but many leaders interest in engagement is limited to the results of engagement surveys. It’s not enough to simply run an engagement survey once a year. You need to work to build a culture of engagement in your company all year long.

8. Prioritize employee happiness

Happiness may sound frivolous to many execs, but the numbers behind it are too important to ignore. Employee happiness is a key indicator of job satisfaction, absenteeism and alignment with values. Investing in the happiness of your employees will pay dividends in engagement, productivity, and retention.

9. Make opportunities for development and growth

Employees place a huge value on opportunities for growth. In fact, a Cornerstone survey drew a direct connection between lack of development opportunity and high turnover rates. If you aren’t developing your employees then you aren’t investing in them. And if you aren’t investing in them, why should they stay with you?

It’s no secret that retention is an important issue. While there’s no way to completely eliminate turnover altogether, following these tips can help reduce it.