Causes Of High Staff Turnover: How To Prevent It
While it’s natural for employees to come and go over time, high staff turnover is a cause for concern. It can lead to low productivity, poor morale, and lack of company growth, among other issues.
Of course, no business wants to lose employees and be faced with these challenges. To ensure this doesn’t happen, staff retention should be made a priority for managers and HR professionals. In this article, we’re going to explore all you need to know to make this happen, from the definition of high turnover to the reasons employees leave and how to avoid them. With these insights, you’ll be ready to boost your people and give them plenty of reasons to stick around!
Staff turnover refers to the number of employees who leave a company voluntarily or involuntarily within a certain period of time. This means either team members who have chosen to hand in their notice or those who have left involuntarily as a result of redundancy or poor performance.
What’s considered high in terms of employee turnover differs across industries. But if you’ve calculated your staff turnover and it’s above the average for your sector, it’s time to act.
What is high employee turnover?
What is the problem with high staff turnover?
Companies that experience a high turnover of employees are at risk of a range of issues, including a negative financial impact and damage to workplace culture. You may already be aware that it’s more costly to replace employees than it is to work on retaining them. Well, research suggests that the average cost of staff turnover is £30,614 per employee. So if your company has a high turnover, it can quickly damage your finances!
That’s not all. Even if your business can recover financially, employee turnover is likely to damage your culture and put pressure on remaining team members. When employees come and go from a business in a short space of time, it creates an unsettled atmosphere which will negatively impact morale, productivity and wellbeing. Simply put, you need to prioritise managing staff churn if you want to see your business and people thrive.
What is a good employee turnover rate?
Staff turnover rates differ between industries, but the average churn rate for UK workers is 34% which is considered a serious cause for concern. Even a 20% turnover rate suggests there’s a real issue, with one in five employees leaving. With that in mind, you want to keep your churn rate as low as is reasonably possible. Remember that some turnover is normal, but it’s your job as an employer or HR professional to make sure employees are happy and want to stay.
8 causes of higher staff turnover
Below we’ve shared some of the top reasons employees leave their companies. By being aware of these causes, you can then focus on ways to prevent them, lowering turnover in the process. Take a look!
1. Workloads are too demanding
Unreasonable workloads can have a detrimental impact on people’s mental health and motivation. When employees are strained due to being overworked, they’re likely to burn out and start looking for a job elsewhere. While it’s good to give your team members targets to work towards, you need to ensure they’re achievable and that you support your employees in hitting their goals.
2. Poor work-life balance
More and more people are striving for a healthier work-life balance so they can spend more time doing the things that they’re passionate about. As a result, employees want to work for companies that understand their needs and have adapted to accommodate them. If their employer won’t meet these needs, nearly half of employees stated that they would leave a job if it prevented them from enjoying their life.
3. Bad company culture
Regardless of whether it’s due to competition between employees, lack of recognition, poor management or even workplace bias, a negative company culture can be detrimental to employee wellbeing. When people feel unsupported and stuck in a toxic environment, they naturally look for jobs elsewhere and leave when a better opportunity comes along.
4. Low salaries and no pay rises
Money isn’t everything, but there’s no denying that it’s an important part of life. With living costs constantly rising, people need salaries that support their needs and pay rises that at the very least align with increasing expenses. A lack of income is also a very strong reason for employees to leave a company. They want to feel their time and energy is appropriately compensated for and that they can cover their outgoings comfortably.
5. Limited development opportunities
70% of workers say learning improves their sense of connection to a workplace. But not only does employee development help people connect with their company, but it also gives them a sense of purpose and motivation. Without continuous growth, employees will become less engaged and turn elsewhere for opportunities to upskill.
6. Problems with management
There’s a saying that people don’t leave bad companies, they leave bad managers. There’s a lot of truth in that! Approximately 30% of UK workers have left a job due to a negative workplace culture, of which 28% stated their reason for leaving was due to a negative relationship with their manager. From micromanagement and mistrust to lack of management training, there could be several reasons why employees leave. But if you ensure your leaders are properly trained and right for their roles, you’ll reduce the risk of this happening.
7. Lack of recognition and rewards
Not being recognised or rewarded for hard work can be demotivating, often causing employees to check out of their jobs mentally and then eventually leave for good. On the other hand, almost three-quarters of employees said personalised benefits like rewards and peer-to-peer recognition would make them work harder.
8. Poor employee benefit offering
In today’s world of work, employee benefits are no longer a ‘nice to have’ – they’re an essential. Perks like employee discounts and wellbeing support help lift people up in all areas of their lives and ensure they have the tools and resources they need to truly thrive. Without these, people are likely to feel unsupported by their companies which is a top reason to leave and find a more understanding employer.
How to prevent high turnover of staff
You’ll be happy to hear that high employee turnover is preventable. With the right strategies in place, you can foster stronger relationships with your people and improve loyalty. Here are a few of our top recommendations:
We’ve mentioned it before, but 70% of employees highlight the importance of emotional connections at work. It’s important for people to be able to build relationships with their colleagues and managers. Not only because it increases engagement and morale, but also because trust and inclusivity are critical for a healthy culture. By encouraging clear, open communication from all your team members, you’ll help break down cross-departmental barriers and foster a strong community that people want to be part of.
Encourage open communication
Recognition and rewards drive motivation and give people a better sense of job satisfaction. Companies that visibly appreciate their employees have a higher retention rate and lower churn as they help their people feel valued.
But just picking any old reward and recognition scheme won’t do. To ensure your programme truly benefits you and your people, it needs to be tailored to suit your culture and employees. By choosing benefits that align with your employees’ wants and needs, you’ll give them meaningful support that improves wellbeing, growth and motivation. All of which reduce employee churn!
Recognise Achievements
Team-building exercises help bring employees together and encourage them to get to know their peers. This will improve collaboration across departments, but more importantly, it’ll foster an inclusive environment where individuals can thrive. Over time, this sense of belonging will build loyalty and reduce the reasons for people to leave their roles.
Team-Building Activities
Regular appraisals and feedback opportunities give employees a chance to voice their thoughts while also allowing employers to check in on their staff to see how they’re getting on. This helps identify potential issues early and sort them out before people leave. Plus, it reinforces the message that your company cares about its employees and will take steps to ensure they can grow.
Regular reviews and feedback
Hiring team members can feel like a costly occupation, but it’s nowhere near as expensive as hiring the wrong people and having to replace them shortly after they join. By taking the time to adapt your hiring strategy and ensure you hire the right people for the role, you’ll improve job satisfaction down the line and lower churn.
Adapt your hiring strategy
A strong benefits package can be a game changer for companies. If you tailor your perks to your people, you’ll help them feel boosted and engaged while also attracting top talent. This reduces the likelihood of staff leaving due to unhappiness and it increases the chance of hiring employees that are truly suited to your business. In simple terms, it means fewer people leave and more people want to work for you!
Now we know that tailoring your employee benefits programme isn’t always easy. But our top piece of advice is to get to know your team and what they want, then choose the perks that will genuinely make a difference in their lives. There’s a huge range of benefits available, from corporate discounts and wellbeing tools to salary sacrifice schemes and points-based rewards, which allows you to hand-pick the most meaningful ones.
Improve employee benefits
How Boostworks can help to prevent high staff turnover
There are plenty of ways to prevent a high staff turnover rate, but the most effective approach is to improve your benefits offering and make sure it aligns with your company culture. By doing this, you’ll meet employee needs and reinforce the values that bolster morale, productivity, job satisfaction, engagement and much more.
With a tailored benefits, reward and recognition scheme, you can support your team and give them plenty of reasons to stay with your business. So, what are you waiting for? Boost your benefits today! And remember that if you need any help refreshing your perks or setting up a new scheme, we’re here to help with that. Just get in touch or book a demo and chat with one of our friendly people experts who will happily walk you through the benefits we offer and the boosts they deliver.
