What is employee turnover?
Employee turnover rates measure the number of employees who leave a company voluntarily or involuntarily within a year. The U.S. Bureau of Statistics reports that the average turnover rate in the United States is about 12% to 15% annually.
Factors that can cause employee turnover?
Factors that cause employees to leave an organization include:
- Favoritism—the practice of giving special treatment to some employees over others can lead to a negative work environment, resentment and low morale.
- Intimidation—an organization driven by fear and compulsion will have a hard time retaining top talent. People who are able to work elsewhere will do so.
- Micromanagement—overbearing supervision is unproductive. It steals time from managers and wastes employee talent and energy.
- Poor Communication—ineffective or insufficient communication can result in frustration and failure because even the best employees have a hard time reading minds and spinning wheels.
- Lack of recognition—employees feel their contribution is not valued.
- Sink or swim—some employees can thrive in a hands-off environment, but most want and need coaching, mentoring and support from their team and management.
- Boredom—if an employee’s job content and environment are not interesting, he or she may look for a new position.
How can employers reduce turnover?
- Improve engagement
- Increase coaching
- Provide upskilling for employees
- Create a careers paths program
- Offer flexible scheduling
- Offer remote work
- Improve benefits
How can stay interviews help?
Human resource directors can use stay interviews to determine general employee satisfaction, identify problems that lead to turnover, pinpoint factors leading to satisfaction, and measure satisfaction with immediate supervisors. This insight can be used to improve overall business effectiveness as well as reduce employee turnover.
See also
Additional resources
- Human Resources Techniques that Improve Communication and Help You Keep Your Best Employees
- The Good, Bad, and Ugly: Management Effect on Employee Retention
- Payroll Experts Has 97 Percent Retention Rate with SwipeClock
- How Workforce Management for Manufacturing Increases Employee Retention
- Proven Strategies from Successful Businesses to Keep Your Employees from Quitting
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