Jeff FerminJob satisfaction numbers throughout North America are fairly low. The people at the bottom of the organizational totem poll are facing copious amounts of stress from work. Where the people at the top get to sit pretty, give orders and use people to enforce their word.
There’s something off about the way that business is handled (in North America), where it’s led by the people who are not on the front lines doing all the dirty work.
Sure, productivity levels are going up across different industries, but salaries are not rising at the same rate. Stress caused from work is becoming a global issue, as work-related mental health issues are on the rise, too.
Which begs the question, are businesses doing their best to retain their employees?
Management may think that employee engagement is a quick fix for turnover, or that the next person to take over will enjoy the position more.
It’s strange that having less than 10.5% employee turnover rate, is a great turnover rate. Speaking on behalf of someone that works in an office a little over 100 people, it’ll be strange if over ten people were to be let go or quit. That kind of attrition is not good and could make employees lose trust within the organization.
Here are some of the factors that can be causing high turnover rates with organizations.
Is Management Full Of Empty Promises?
No matter what the culture is like within an organization, management may not always be looking out for an individual’s interests at all times. They care that the ship is being steered in the right direction.
That may not necessarily be a bad thing, however, if a manager were to verbally agree on something multiple times with an employee and they don’t come through, an employee can lose trust on the company and the people.
Imagine making an agreement with management and after months, heck, even years of them saying they would act upon it, they never come through. It demoralizes the employee and makes them feel like that they don’t belong.
Nothing will make an employee want to leave more than lack of appreciation. Especially if that person is a high performer. In fact, a high performer may be the least engaged person within the company. And though having a disengaged employee is a bad thing, will management see a high performing disengaged employee as a bad thing?
The answer to that question will reveal if the company is truly a great place to work for.
It should also be noted that those disengaged high performers are extremely likely to leave after a certain amount of time. So managers, start doing a better job of leading your employees to prominence, as opposed to letting them down.
Lack Of Proper Communication Between Employees Leads To Conflict
We’ve often posted that “people don’t quit their jobs, they quit their bosses” however, it’s also worth mentioning that people are likely to be driven away from the people they work alongside.
One of the biggest problems with companies is that the more they grow, the more the culture changes. Whether it’s a small startup moving from a basement to an office or a large enterprise opening up large offices, culture dilution is a problem for growing companies.
Before going any further, it should be noted that proper communication within an office is work-related talk.
It’s nice to talk socially and be friendly, however, if an employee is a complainer, gossiper or a person that says things about another colleague in order to make themselves look better, they should be disciplined or removed, as those people can kill a company’s culture.
Here are some more examples of culture killers:
The 10 Company Culture Killers from Officevibe
To sum it up, the type of employees that move around the grass like snakes and do their best to make themselves look better instead of bringing the team up, will be the ones that’ll infect your company like a cancer.
An organization is only as good as the people it obtains. You can have a hundred talented people. However, it only takes one person to spread negativity to the other 99 and have them go at it.
So management, when it comes to performance reviews and listening to employee feedback, make sure you can weed out the person who is truly the bad apple.
Not Addressing Issues Within An Organization
If there’s a surefire way to lose a lot of great talent, it’s to ignore issues until they are a major problem.
If there’s a hole in a dam, they aren’t going to wait till it gets bigger to fix it.
A lot of people are scared to bring up issues with management or even other employees. However, holding it in only leads to a prolonged stress outburst. On the other end of the spectrum, if an employee is complaining about every little thing, maybe that person has isn’t a good fit for the culture.
Whatever the case is, it should be well-balanced, and management should assess the situation more thoroughly before they make any harsh or quick decisions.
The last thing you’d want is for management to let go of people, get rid of an initiative or something more drastic, just because a person complained.
Any issue should be addressed with care and hear different points of view before action is taken. If not, a company would be chaotic. People would be fired regularly, projects would be frequently canceled, and it’d be a less productive atmosphere.
So managers, take notice of situations and after that, start doing your best to see how all parties involved with the situation can learn or benefit from the issue.
So, How Do Businesses Retain Employees?
Businesses make sure to retain employees by keeping an atmosphere that encourages productivity and autonomy.
The aforementioned explanation may sound buzzwordy, but companies hire for a reason and they fire for a reason. They want to make sure they get the best and they keep people that will preserve the brand, be good ambassadors, employees, and people.
The organizations that are focusing on employee retention are the ones that have the highest level of engagement. They are getting the best people and keeping them, it’s simply because they see the person’s lifetime value and they’ll take notice of how the individual will benefit the company in the long run.
Companies that don’t have an engagement or retention strategy might not thrive in today’s society or aren’t built for sustainability in the 21st century.
Gen-X and Millennial employees want a great place to work, where they are trusted and pushed to their max and given creative freedom to do what they can to make the company succeed. Millennials are also seeking a place that will allow them to grow and advance. There’s a reason there are high turnover rates among millennials, especially within the first two years.
Leaders, retain your employees by creating a great workplace. If you’d like to have a quick checklist of things to do to retain employees and create an awesome company. Do the following:
- Create A Stress-Free Environment
- Engage Your Employees
- Don’t Lie To Employees
- Be Wary Of Snakes
- Address Issues Properly
- Don’t Make Empty Promises
It’s a tall order, but if it’s done you’ll be able to succeed in the long term.
Is Engagement Really That Big Of An Issue?
The answer is yes. People aren’t doing their best to put the interests of their employees first.
If you want to know how do businesses retain employees, it’s fairly simple, they improve every aspect of their organization to the best of their ability. Which is why they try different forms of employee surveys to get the most accurate feedback out there.
Learn how Officevibe can benefit your company and help with retention and engagement today.
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