4 Creative Ideas for Reducing Employee Churn

Many companies focus their efforts on hiring the best and brightest employees, but what about making sure the great ones you have stick around?

After all, when an employee leaves your company, it will cost you about 33% of their annual salary to hire a replacement, according to Employee Benefit News. That means that you’d be paying $15,000 when an employee earning $45,000 a year decides to leave. That’s a lot to leave on the table.

A high churn rate is also bad for company culture and morale. According to TalentKeepers, 71% of organizational leaders believe that employee turnover has a very large effect on morale and culture.

Not every employee can stay forever. However, the study by Employee Benefits News found that 75% of the causes of employee turnover are preventable. That means your company can make efforts to reduce employee churn, ultimately saving costs and improving overall morale.

You already know that you need to pay employees fairly and offer them a comprehensive benefits package. But today’s hiring environment is more competitive than ever. Today, we’re sharing 4 creative ideas for reducing employee churn.

1. Hire the Right People– Especially the Right Managers

Company cultures matter a lot in retention– employees are 40% less likely to look for a new job if they feel positively about their work culture, according to a report by TINYpulse. What’s backing your culture and making it great? The people you hire. It’s essential to hire the right people– those who believe in your mission– at the start.

This is especially important when considering who you hire to run your teams. The TINYpulse study revealed that employees with respectful managers are 32% less likely to think about a new job and employees who are micromanaged are 28% more likely to think about a new job. When it comes to hiring, be deliberate. Look for people who are committed to your mission from the get-go, especially managers who are capable and willing to coach and inspire.

2. Offer Unique and Unexpected Benefits and Perks

Unemployment rates are at an all time low. That’s good for employees, but hard for employers who want to staff their companies with the best possible talent. To increase retention and encourage employees to stay, employers are increasingly offering unique and unexpected benefits and perks.

These perks go far beyond a pool table in the break room or free snack– the newest, most attractive perks work for all generations and help employees build better, more fulfilling lives inside and outside of work.

Here are some of the unique perks employers are offering:

• Student loan repayment plans – Companies are now offering assistance with student loan repayment, as 70% of today’s emerging workforce have substantial student loan debt, according to the New York Federal Reserve. Programs like Peanut Butter can help manage student loan assistance.
• Career coaching – Employees want to grow their skill sets, and career coaching can help. Coaching helps employees develop leadership skills and improves their overall satisfaction.
• Financial wellness education – Regardless of their salaries, employees often have financial goals such as buying homes, saving for retirements, or funding college savings accounts for their children. The more resources you can provide, the better.
• Digital health solutions – From smoking cessation programs, to diabetes management, to mental health portals, there are more new digital health solutions available to employers than ever.

While these options are great, simple recognition from management is also extremely important, and a great way to get started.

3. Give Flexibility that Accounts for the Whole Person

Your employees work for your company, but they’re also people. They have hopes, dreams, families, obligations, and personal goals.

Today’s workers want to work somewhere that’s flexible and can accommodate who they are outside of work. A study by EY reports that 74% employees want “the ability to work flexibly.” They want to take time off for doctor’s appointments and events at their kids school without much fuss. They want to be able to work remotely and at hours that work best for them.

Remote work, in particular, can have a positive impact on employee retention. A study by TINYpulse found companies that don’t support remote work gave a 25% lower retention rate than those who do. While it may not be realistic for you to allow workers to work from home all the time, you may be able to update your policy to account for occasional days from home.

4. Prioritize Communication, Goal-Setting, and Future Career Growth

Your employees want more than a steady paycheck. They want to learn, grow, and advance their careers. That’s why access to professional development increases retention by 10%, according to TINYpulse.

Although Indeed reports that 46% of employees stay at their companies less than 5 years, 90% of millennials would choose to stay in a job for the next 10 years if they knew they'd get annual raises and upward career mobility, according to Qualtrics. Additionally, 64.4% of employees cite further career advancement the #1 consideration for employees switching roles.

In order to prioritize communication, goal-setting, and future career growth, be sure to sync up regularly with 1:1 meetings, set quarterly goals with employees, and offer employees career coaching to help them get to where they need to go.

When it comes to reducing employee churn, there are a number of avenues you can turn to. You can’t keep everyone around forever, but you can hire the right people, offer smart benefits, give more flexibility, and prioritize communication and career growth for employees.

This post is part of a special blog series on ‘Get Fully Staffed: Finding and Keeping Great People' in support of ProService’s Growth Series event taking place on June 27, 2018. Offered exclusively to ProService clients and special guests, the Growth Series are interactive learning experiences that feature industry-leading speakers and networking opportunities that will inspire and provide tools for business leaders to take their organizations to the next level. To register, please visit our event page and register with code GS2018.