How to Reduce Employee Turnover - 3 Quick Fixes

Employee turnover can be a significant cost to a company, affecting productivity, morale, and bottom-line profits. As HR professionals, it is essential to take steps to reduce employee turnover and improve employee retention. However, once the problem of employee turnover has taken root, it can be notoriously difficult to address and requires a serious rethink of existing HR practices.

Fortunately, there are many approaches available to HR practitioners and business leaders to address employee attrition and to boost employee retention. In this article, we'll explore three quick fixes to help you reduce employee turnover:

1) Improve Employee Selection

The first step in reducing turnover is to ensure you are hiring the right people. Employee selection is a critical factor in reducing turnover, as hiring individuals who are not a good fit for the company can lead to high turnover rates. One way to improve employee selection is by using psychometric tests. These assessments can provide valuable insight into an individual's work preferences, personality traits, and cognitive abilities, helping HR professionals to identify individuals who are likely to be a good fit for the company.

Employee selection is a critical factor in reducing turnover, as hiring individuals who are not a good fit for the company can lead to high turnover rates.

When considering psychometric assessments, it is important to choose a reputable provider and ensure that the assessments are valid and reliable. Furthermore, it is essential to use assessments in conjunction with other selection tools, such as interviews and reference checks, to gain a comprehensive understanding of an individual's suitability for the role. By hiring candidates who are a good fit for the role and the organisation, you are likely to maximise employee engagement and minimise the probability of capability issues, reducing attrition.

2) Provide Ongoing Training and Development

Another way to reduce employee turnover is by providing ongoing training and development opportunities. Employees who feel that they are learning and growing in their role are more likely to remain with the company. Providing access to training and development programs can also help employees to develop new skills, which can make them more valuable to the company and reduce the risk of turnover.

"Employees who feel that they are learning and growing in their role are more likely to remain with the company." - Ben Schwencke

When designing training and development programs, it is important to consider the needs of the employees and align programs with the company's goals and objectives. Additionally, providing opportunities for employees to network with their colleagues and attend industry events can help to build a sense of community and increase employee engagement. Lastly, organisations must continually monitor the effectiveness of their training programs, with the aim of measuring and thus maximising the return on investment.

3) Foster a Positive Work Environment

Finally, it's essential to foster a positive work environment to reduce employee turnover. A positive work environment can help employees feel valued, supported and motivated. This approach is likely to have the greatest impact on employee turnover, but it also represents one of the more challenging tasks, requiring a complete overhaul of the company's management practices. Nevertheless, organisations should always strive to provide a positive work environment for their employees, regardless of the time and resources required to achieve this.

Creating a positive work environment can involve several actions, such as:

• Recognising and rewarding employees for their contributions
• Providing opportunities for employee involvement in decision-making
• Encouraging open and honest communication
• Promoting work-life balance

Conclusion:

Reducing employee turnover is an important goal for HR professionals. By improving employee selection, providing ongoing training and development opportunities and fostering a positive work environment, HR professionals can take steps to minimise turnover and improve employee retention. These quick fixes may not solve the issue of employee turnover overnight and will still require time, energy and resources from the organisation's HR department and senior leadership. Nevertheless, these initiatives will yield tremendous benefits in terms of employee engagement, job satisfaction, organisational commitment, and overall job performance, addressing more issues than just employee turnover.

By improving employee selection, providing ongoing training and development opportunities and fostering a positive work environment, HR professionals can take steps to minimise turnover and improve employee retention.