Employee retention aims to prevent companies from experiencing high levels of employee turnover. The retention rate, in turn, directly affects the business’s success and turnover. Therefore, turnover and retention rates are interrelated since the higher the retention, the lower the fluidity. A valuable resource of the company is employees who bring the primary income. When such people leave, the business loses profit, information, and customer base. In addition, the productivity and motivation of the remaining employees may decrease. Therefore, it is relevant for each company to draw up an employee retention plan. A good retention plan should include identifying the reasons for leaving, how to deal with them, and implementing the plan.
Causes of Increased Staff Turnover
To develop a plan to retain employees, the company’s director should study the factors affecting layoffs. Staff turnover is the movement of the workforce, which occurs both due to external causes and employees’ dissatisfaction with the workplace or employee management. The higher the turnover rate, the worse the situation at the enterprise. This situation is characterized by frequent and unjustified layoffs of highly qualified employees and the arrival of many new specialists. Altogether, this is a serious destabilizing factor affecting the productivity of the company. In addition, the company spends a lot of money and resources on finding, adapting, and training newcomers. It is worth noting that the level of turnover varies depending on the specifics of the department. For example, among low-skilled personnel, there is a high turnover of personnel, in contrast to employees at the administrative and managerial levels. In this regard, the measurement should be divided into sections, departments, and divisions.
There are several main reasons why employees leave. This may be a personal dislike for the leader and disagreement with management methods (Bimpong et al. 2020). Staff turnover can be high in an environment with poor communication and a poorly developed system of incentives and rewards. Employees feel insecure, oppressed and undervalued in such an environment (Bimpong et al. 2020). This morale significantly affects their productivity and efficiency at work.
On the one hand, employers appreciate the ambition of employees. When a person can take the initiative and come up with a fresh idea, it should always be rewarded. However, ignoring manifestations of creativity and, as a result, a complete lack of career growth can push a person to quit. In addition, dissatisfaction with the profession and the desire to change speciality encourage employees to look for a new application on the side if they do not find it in the company. There are widespread cases when, after the dismissal of the head of the department, following him, all the employees of this department leave the organization. Moreover, unfair layoffs reduce the loyalty and motivation of working employees.
In addition to these factors, there is one that may seem non-obvious. This is the lack of challenges in working on any project. It may seem that the simpler the work, the better it is, but this is not always the case. When a highly qualified employee is faced with a lack of challenges, he does not feel the growth of his skills. Accordingly, in the future, this leads to the fact that the employee begins to get bored and ultimately decides to quit. If the influence of all the indicated factors on the team is leveled, then a significant decrease in fluidity can be achieved.
Employee Retention Methods
First, to prevent layoffs, it is necessary to ensure high-quality recruitment. The values, principles, and goals of people should be consistent with the organization’s corporate culture. At the selection stage, it is crucial to provide applicants with as much information as possible about the job and the employer, not to overestimate expectations, and not overdo it with promises (Fletcher et al. 2018). It is also vital to apply all the necessary selection methods to identify suitable professional qualities for a future employee.
For already working employees, it is necessary to develop programs for personnel’s professional and career development. Training programs go a long way in building loyalty and retention. For example, such as continuing education courses, improving existing skills, and gaining new knowledge at the employer’s expense. This will raise morale and increase motivation.
Another step to take to keep employees engaged is an open policy. This is a corporate norm that does not involve meetings behind closed doors. Employees must realize that they have a voice and are recognized for their contributions. It will be helpful for managers to consult with them on work matters and introduce collective decision-making practices.
The next point is one of the most important because it can prevent the dismissal of qualified personnel. Keeping employees busy helps them stay engaged and not bored. Employees must feel that something depends on their effort. Permanent employment causes a feeling of stability, which is fundamental in work and other areas of life (Kuiate & Noland, 2019). To this point, it should be added that a system of rewards for exceptional achievements can be introduced. Benefits supporting the health of employees and their families make up an excellent compensation package. The announced steps will help redirect the company to a corporate policy that will retain employees.
Implementation of Corporate Changes
The corporate reforms discussed above should be implemented gradually. At the same time, employees should not experience discomfort due to innovations and changes in corporate rules. To do this, it is important to gradually introduce changes by presenting them to employees and discussing the plan for innovating the company’s structure. First, a team of top company managers should be assembled who will be responsible for compliance with the rules during the transition to the new system (Ambrosius, 2018). This team will have to prepare questionnaires for employees. By filling out anonymous questionnaires, employees will answer questions about their work, why they would like to quit, and what they like and dislike.
After that, it is necessary to analyze the collected material to understand what specific factors affect the departure of personnel in the company. Depending on this, the above changes will apply. At the same time, meetings with staff should be held weekly to assess the quality of the introduced changes and their effectiveness (Hassan, 2022). The final stage of the implementation of the changes should come one month after the collection of questionnaires. On this day, the work results are summed up, and a re-survey of employees is done to compare the results.
Conclusion
Retaining valuable employees in an organization is one of the most critical tasks for any company to remain competitive. The study of the main factors of dismissal of employees and the analysis of organization statistics are diagnostic tools that will help identify the causes of staff turnover. Having identified the problem, managers should choose a solution that will make employees’ stay in the company. The next step should be implementing the changes needed to gradually transform the workplace. The described steps are the basis of an employee retention plan. Such actions must be taken urgently, as more and more valuable personnel can leave the company daily.
References
Ambrosius, J. (2018). Strategic talent management in emerging markets and its impact on employee retention: Evidence from Brazilian MNCs. Thunderbird International Business Review, 60(1), 53-68. Web.
Bimpong, K. A. A., Khan, A., Slight, R., Tolley, C. L., & Slight, S. P. (2020). Relationship between labour force satisfaction, wages and retention within the UK National Health Service: a systematic review of the literature. BMJ open, 10(7), e034919. Web.
Fletcher, L., Alfes, K., & Robinson, D. (2018). The relationship between perceived training and development and employee retention: the mediating role of work attitudes. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 29(18), 2701-2728. Web.
Hassan, Z. (2022). Employee retention through effective human resource management practices in Maldives: Mediation effects of compensation and rewards system. Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Innovation. Web.
Kuiate, C., & Noland, T. R. (2019). Attracting and retaining core competency: a focus on cost stickiness. Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change. Web.