As noted in my previous blog, Preparing For Tomorrow’s Workforce…Strategically, our workforce is shrinking and employers need to have a plan for two critical items:
- How to retain top talent
- How to attract top talent
Let’s start with how to retain top talent. Every employee is important to a company’s success, but I recommend you prioritize the most critical positions within your company, and the most critical employees within your company, and start to develop a retention plan for them and work your way down the organization chart. According to a study performed in 2012 by DDI (Development Dimensions International), one-third of all employees expect to leave their job within a year. With the cost of replacing a non-leadership employee (including advertising the role, managers time to interview, productivity loss, professional search fees, etc.) at 26% to 46% of the individual’s income, attrition can be costly. And the cost goes up for leadership roles, typically three times more than a non-leadership role.
So why do employees leave? Versique interviews thousands of Twin Cities employees each year from a variety of industries, functions, and at all levels.
Top 5 reasons why employees leave:
- Poor relationship with their manager
- Lack of work/life balance
- Lack of meaningful work
- Lack of trust in the workplace
- A less than enjoyable culture or cooperation with their co-workers
Now that we understand some of the main reasons why employees leave, how can we improve retention?
Top 5 ways to improve employee retention:
- Conduct a survey to understand what your employee base is lacking
- Conduct exit interviews to learn why they left, and how your company can improve
- Improve and promote open communication at all levels
- Enhance your training and development programs, and consider creating personalized development plans for key employees
- Hire people who not only have the right skill-set, but also fit your culture and core values
As mentioned in my last blog, finding top-tier talent in the Twin Cities is only going to get tougher in the years to come. The easiest way to solve this problem is to retain the current top-tier employees you already have. Next time, we’ll cover how to attract top-tier talent!
