Top Reasons For High Employee Turnover And How To

Having a high employee turnover is bad news. Not only are losing potentially great employees, but you are also spending money to repeatedly replace them.

Aside from increased recruitment costs, high employee turnover also impacts the productivity and motivation of your remaining employees. Your existing staff may experience an increase in workloads and responsibility, which will impact the workplace morale and company culture.

Plus, the business may see a decrease in sales as time, money and effort is put into recruitment and training. If you are struggling to retain talent, it’s time to make positive changes.

Common Reasons For High Employee Turnover

First, you need to understand the main causes of high employee turnover. There are many external reasons why an employee may leave, such as relocating, family commitments and career changes.

But if you are regularly losing staff, it's highly likely that the problem lies within your company and is not related to external factors.

Overwhelming Workloads

Having an unmanageable workload is one of the biggest causes of work-related stress amongst employees. If left unaddressed, an overwhelming workload can lead to burnout and other mental health problems.

Employees that are struggling with their workload tend to work longer hours yet are less productive and engaged in the workplace. So, as well as affecting employee wellbeing, unmanageable workloads have a direct impact on the quality and quantity of work being produced.

How To Tackle It:

Overwhelming workloads are one of the biggest causes of high employee turnover. If workloads appear to be a problem amongst employees, changes must be made promptly.

Recruiting additional staff members, even on a part-time basis, can help to relieve some of the pressure on your existing staff.

Alternatively, look at outsourcing tasks where possible. For example, if your employees don’t have the time to market the business, outsource the marketing to an agency.

You could also aim to remove any meaningless tasks and try to streamline time-consuming tasks where possible. Encourage employees to collaborate on projects where possible and try to harbour a culture of honesty and trust. If an employee is struggling with their workload, they should be able to tell someone and receive help.

Lack Of Progression

If an employee feels as if there is no room for progression within the company, they will likely start looking elsewhere. Similarly, if there is a lack of learning and development opportunities, you will lose good employees.

By providing opportunities for growth and progression, you are demonstrating that you care about your employees' careers and that you value them and want to keep them within your company.

How To Tackle It:

Start by evaluating your company’s employee development strategy. Is there a clear pathway for progression within your company? If there is, are you communicating it to your team? If there isn’t, how can you create one?

When recruiting, are you aligning the goals of your business with the career goals of your new employees? If a senior position becomes available within the company, do you consider training existing employees to fulfil it?

You should also look at providing opportunities for employees to learn new skills that will help them progress. There is a wide range of third-party organisations providing training courses, coaching and mentoring.

Toxic Workplace Culture

Toxic workplace culture can be caused by several reasons, including bad leadership, micro-management, lack of communication, negative workplace relationships, bullying and harassment, distrust and resistance to change.

Unfortunately, toxic workplace cultures are relatively common and can reduce employee productivity, increase employee absences and lead to a higher employee turnover.

How To Tackle It:

Toxicity in the workplace can stem from individuals at any level in the company. Pinpointing the exact cause of it can be challenging. Instead, start by acknowledging the problem. Be honest with your team and let them know you are working to improve the company culture.

Clearly outline the changes that are going to implement and ensure each employee, including all management and leaders, understand what is expected of them.

Organise and carry out meetings that focus on the team rather than the business. Speak to employees one-to-one and ask for their honest opinion on how to improve the workplace culture. Recognise and reward achievements, however small. And aim to create an open and honest culture.

Lack Of Feedback Or Recognition

If an employee does not feel valued or recognised for their hard work, they will likely start to look for a company that is going to appreciate them.

How To Tackle It:

Feedback, whether positive or not, is beneficial for your employees and it is crucial that your employees are receiving feedback regularly.

If your employee is struggling, providing honest and constructive feedback can help them get back on track. If your employee is thriving, offering thanks and recognition demonstrates that you value their work.

If you have a small to medium business, take the time to have one-to-one chats with your employees. As well as providing the opportunity for you to give feedback and recognition, these chats also offer an opportunity for you to ensure their workload is manageable.

In larger companies, ensure your management team are regularly meeting with employees to provide feedback and recognition. It is also a good idea to show recognition during team meetings.

Bad Hiring Process

Your high employee turnover may well stem from your hiring process. Recruiting can be extremely challenging, time-consuming and costly. And if not done properly, you may end up losing your new employee sooner than you expected.

When recruiting, there are so many things to consider. Aside from having the skill and experience, the candidate should also have values that reflect those of the company. Their career goals should align with your company goals, and they should be able to bring new ideas to the table.

Picking a poorly matched candidate to quickly fill a position rarely ends well and will add to your high employee turnover.

How To Tackle It:

Hiring a recruitment specialist is usually the best way to hire top talent and reduce employee turnover. A recruitment agency, like Hewett Recruitment, does all the hard work for you, successfully identifying and attracting the best candidates for your business.

Get In Touch

Hewett Recruitment has been established since 1980. By listening to the needs of our clients and candidates, we have expanded our recruitment services into specialist divisions; IT, engineering, commercial, finance and industrial.

If you would like to find out more about reducing your employee turnover through successful recruitment, get in touch today.