Tips for Retaining Talent

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Employee TurnoverWinning the talent game means winning the retention game – but this isn’t always a walk in the park, especially when you’re juggling employees with vastly different needs and motivators (think Boomers vs. Millennials).  However, in a strong economy with low unemployment, the cost of attrition is higher than ever. According to LinkedIn Talent Solutions, more than 50% of companies admit having difficulty finding valued employees.

  • The cost of replacing a lost employee is between $45K and $150K.
  • It takes a new employee eight months to become highly productive.
  • At any given time, more than half of U.S. workers are looking for a new opportunity.

The main reason employees give for leaving their company is bad bosses. What makes a bad boss? Micromanaging was the behavior cited by 39%, but being overly critical (22%), disorganized (16%), being a know-it-all (14%), and being impatient (9%) were also noted.

According to LinkedIn Talent Solutions, there are 4 additional steps you can take to reduce turnover:

  1. Improve training and onboarding. Companies that do a good job of training and onboarding new hires are much more likely to keep their new hires: 91% are more likely to keep them for one year, and 68% are more likely to keep them for three years. Training and onboarding also help companies realize productivity gains (50%) and high profit margins (24%).
  2. Improve communications. There is an important divide in the need for communications. While about 70% of companies still use an annual performance review system, employees say they want monthly feedback on their performance. Closing this gap can only be achieved by better communications.
  3. Be flexible. More than 9 in 10 employees said having internal job flexibility motivated them to succeed, and 70% of managers reported increased productivity after moving to flexible schedules. Further, 63% of managers linked business growth directly to flexible working.
  4. Be a good citizen. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) allows employees to contribute beyond their job responsibilities. Candidates prefer to work for a socially responsible company (79%) and 57% of companies report less turnover when employees feel connected to the company’s volunteer efforts.

The Infosurv POV

Infosurv believes that the direct supervisor has one of the most important roles to play in shaping a company’s culture and in reducing attrition.  All the free food and company events in the world won’t keep employees from looking elsewhere if their day-to-day lives are miserable.  Managers need to build a strong connection to their direct employees, complete with trust and with open, honest, two-way communication.  This needs to be baked into the organization, as well, so that managers at all levels are held to the same standards.  Bad bosses = bad culture = employees fleeing the ship.

Infosurv’s engagement survey does a deep dive into employee’s perceptions of their managers, how well the two sides are communicating, how much feedback (positive and constructive) is being given, etc., to help you better understand if your managers are building strong teams or inadvertently undermining the culture and productivity you’re trying to build at your organization.

Are you losing too many employees that are hard to replace? Let’s find out why. Call Infosurv today!

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Kyle Burnam

Kyle Burnam is the CEO of Infosurv and the leader of its sister company, Intengo, where he oversees all client research and R&D projects. Having been in the industry since 2005, Kyle brings a wealth of experience to the table and an innovative eye to every project.