How to avoid high turnover with businesses hiring

Starting a business can be time-consuming and arduous in the beginning, to the point where it feels like you're working beyond your means. Thanks to an extraordinarily robust economy, however, there are more opportunities to obtain the helping hands needed to avoid burnout.

But because so many people companies are hiring, this environment can also cause some of your best workers to seek greener pastures.

In June, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released what may be best be described as a double-edged sword report: As of April, there were 6.7 million job openings in the United States. With the jobless rate below 4 percent, meaning the country is effectively at full employment, approximately 6.3 million were out of work but actively searching.

Translation: More jobs are available than there are people looking for them. While this is good news for individuals on the employment hunt, it presents a potential problem for business owners who love their staff. In an effort to entice workers to apply, companies are offering higher salaries and other benefits that individuals enjoy that they may not currently have, like a better work-life balance, insurance options and retirement planning products with employer-matching contributions. In a survey done in August by Harris Poll on behalf of CareerBuilder, 45 percent of business-owner respondents said they intended to increase their starting salaries in the second half of 2018. Of these, 23 percent indicated raises would be 5 percent or higher.

Cathy Barrera, chief economist at ZipRecruiter, told CNBC that raising wages helps fill job openings or those newly created. The CareerBuilder poll suggests many are doing this very thing, with nearly 60 percent intending to raise compensation levels for current employers.

Therein lies the sticking point: If more businesses are hiring, there's greater incentive for workers to hand their bosses their resignation papers should they find a position that pays better or has perks that prove too irresistible to turn down. Without a strategy, high turnover can lead to workplace disorder.

If raising wages isn't feasible, business owners need a plan to keep their workers engaged and happy with their present situation. Here are a few pieces of advice from the Forbes Human Resources Council:

Open lines of communication
When turnover is the elephant in the room is turnover, avoiding the topic can be counterproductive, advised human resources consultant Sarah O'Neill.

"Ask your employees how the company can better support them and be a place people enjoy working," O'Neill explained. "Once you listen to the feedback, take action to improve the employee experience."

She added that the key to reversing high turnover is by starting a dialogue on what needs to change and then making good on the changes everyone agrees upon.

Have your employees' backs
If your staff members feel like they're all on their own in terms of production and expectations, you risk them going someplace where the environment is more welcoming, warned Angela Nguyen of Ad Exchange Group.

"If employees feel like they have a community that empathizes with them and is genuinely interested in contributing to their growth, a natural affinity will exist, and will anchor them more strongly to the company," Nguyen suggested.

Ensure opportunities for advancement
There's nothing wrong with workers content with their roles as presently constituted, but should they want to take on a job with more responsibility, they should have that capability, said Sara Whitman of Peppercomm.

"Helping employees take advantage of the opportunities around them will create more fulfilling experiences and connections to the company, in turn reducing turnover," Whitman intoned.

Perform exit interviews
It's impossible to prevent each and every worker from deciding to quit; people have their reasons for leaving, but the key is understanding why they're going to work elsewhere, stressed Matt Burns of JYSK Canada, a home furnishings retailer.

"The best defense against employee turnover is understanding why people are leaving in the first place," Burns said. "If you demonstrate a genuine attempt at understanding the "why," people will tell you. Then it is up to the organization to make the necessary changes."

They appear to be doing so. Based on a 2016 Robert Half poll, nearly two-thirds of human resource managers confirmed their companies acted upon feedback given to them from former employees in exit interviews.

If there was a silver bullet to retention, it would have been triggered long ago. All you can do is make the best of your situation and implement proactive steps so you're prepared to handle turnover when it happens. Here at the Law Offices of Donald W. Hudspeth, we provide the pragmatic advice and strategic planning that can help keep your employees engaged and turnover under control. Contact us today.

Categorised in: Starting a Business in Arizona

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