Staff Turnover and Retention
Recent reports suggest that the costs associated with staff turnover can range from $15k up to an entire annual salary. And its not just the financial burden placed on organizations, it's also measured in time spent on advertising, recruiting, inducting, training and lost productivity.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reports that approximately 18% of Australian workers have been with their current employer for less than 12 months. That’s an interesting statistic, which begs the questions, what factors influenced their decisions?
It seems that one reason could be that companies are not advertising their roles properly, thus giving candidates an unrealistic perspective of the role…
Yes, organizations need to promote the business and the role in such a manner as to attract the right candidate, however when the reality doesn’t meet the expectation, employees become disgruntled. Suffice to say, it doesn’t foster a good relationship (between the employer and the employee) and so creates a ‘turnover’ risk!
Additionally, a lack of career development also leads to unhappy employees and so gives them cause to scour job ads. Employees, amongst other things, are looking for opportunity to grow, and if this is not available and/or apparent, then they’ll just leave and find opportunity somewhere else.
Another big issue seems to be the concept of Work-Life Balance… employees are seeking to spend more time with their families and less time commuting to and from work, and this will ostensibly reduce overall stress levels.
We see some organizations that think money will solve all their problems, where in fact it seems monetary rewards aren’t always the answer. General studies show that workers gain greater satisfaction from recognition of a job well done!
Some time ago, a report was commissioned to establish what employees want from work. The following table shows the vast difference between employees and employers when it comes to job satisfaction… Employee rating
| Items being rated
| Spvr rating
| | 1 | Appreciation of work well done
| 8 | | 2 | Feeling 'being in on things'
| 10 | | 3 | Assist personal problems (EAP) | 9 | | 4 | Job security
| 2 | | 5 | Good wages
| 1 | | 6 | Interesting work
| 5 | | 7 | Promotion and/or growth | 3 | | 8 | Personal loyalty to employees
| 6 | | 9 | Good working conditions
| 4 | | 10 | Tactful discipline
| 7 |
In recruitment terms we find that apart from those technical aspects of ‘fitting’ into an organization, communication and culture too is key! Companies that provide regular communication and invite suggestions and feedback help to create a culture of inclusion and stability, as people not only like to feel valued they also like to feel they belong!
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