The process of hiring the right person for the right position often takes a significant amount of time that the majority of companies cannot afford. Most business owners wouldn’t mind such an investment if they could only keep their qualified candidates on the payroll.
Consider an employee who makes $8 per hour. Then, factor in that the average cost of losing that person would come to $5,500 — not including any benefits.
If your organization has experienced a rash of turnover in the past few years, you may find yourself searching for a way to identify and prevent this trend from continuing.
4 Clues to Help You Detect an Employee’s Potential Resignation
Your employees may be sending you clues — whether consciously or unconsciously. Here are four signs to help you identify any issues looming with employees you’d love to keep on staff:
- Decreased participation in office culture. If you notice that an employee increasingly avoids after-work gatherings, team-building exercises and holiday parties, you may consider it a red alert that he or she is considering leaving your company. On a smaller scale, an employee may simply stop participating in staff meetings and other strategic planning activities.
- Decline in quality work habits and performance. Employees who are considering leaving a company often simply don’t care about their work as much as they once did. This apathy may be a result of distraction due to considering their options or a way of silently letting you know their intentions.
- Increased absences and leave requests. Whether due to illness or requests for personal days, your first hint that an employee feels dissatisfied may directly align with an increase in absenteeism.
- Poor attitude and less cooperation. Employees set on leaving — especially if they feel slighted somehow — may withdraw beyond social events. An employee ready to jump ship may become less willing to help fellow employees with projects or might be short and sometimes rude to co-workers and management.
4 Tips to Help You Avoid Employee Turnover
If you’ve picked up on your employee’s hints that he or she is indeed considering leaving your organization, there are some ways you can help prevent this unwanted employee turnover.
- Re-assess your compensation and benefits package. You might have noticed mass grumbling from your staff the last time you announced changes to your organization’s compensation and benefits package. If your employees have mentioned their unhappiness with the package, or you suspect one or more employees are leaving because of it, it is worth another look.
- Maintain an open-door policy. You’re not a mind reader, but you do want to know what is going on with your employees to keep them as happy as possible. Sometimes employees just need to feel heard, but these sessions also give you the opportunity to search for reasonable and meaningful solutions to avoid staff turnover.
- Offer more work flexibility. Perhaps you can allow staff members the chance to telecommute a certain number of days a week. You may also consider allowing for a compressed schedule that gives them one weekday — or even half of a workday — off each week. Employees tend to feel more empowered when they can add some flexibility to their schedule.
- Provide challenges. When employees feel like they are stagnating, they are likely to become bored and dissatisfied. If you believe your employee has become bored and needs more challenges, work with his or her manager to find new challenges for him or her.
Find the Right Employee from the Beginning
Sometimes, the key to reduced employee turnover lies in the hiring process. If you’ve recently lost someone for one of the reasons above, or the many other reasons, we may be able to help you find someone in it for the long term for your next hire.
At Whitman Associates, our experienced and dedicated recruiters work closely with candidates to learn more about their background, education, experience, skills and goals to see how well they align with your needs.
Call (202) 659-2111, visit our Facebook page, or submit a request form for temp to perm or permanent placement today.
