Dear Nonstop Hiring Manager:
Reversing the trend of high turnover can be difficult, but hiring less-qualified people is not the answer. High employee turnover is typically an environmental issue resulting from a mismatch between the employee and the work environment.
When employees leave an employer, they often cite more money or returning to school as their reason for leaving. On the surface this may be true, but it may not be the real motive behind their departure.
To reverse your trend of high turnover, you must first determine three facts:
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Circumstances leading up to the departure of employees from your company
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Reasons why some employees choose to remain in your employment
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Characteristics of the most successful employees
All departing employees should receive anexit interview, regardless of their reason for leaving. The survey should be structured to give employees the opportunity to discuss the good, bad, pretty and ugly about your company, without the fear of burning a bridge.
Remaining employees should be surveyed to determine why they stay. They too should be given the opportunity to discuss the good, bad, pretty and ugly about your company without fear of reprisal. If there’s the slightest doubt about the issue of trust between employees and management, then have the survey conducted by an outside organization.
Using a valid assessment tool, develop a profile of your ideal productive employees.
Incorporate the information from the exit interviews, the employee surveys and the profile into a hiring and retention strategy that includes a formal employee selection and retention process.
The most important step is to take it personally. Employees are not leaving your company; they are leaving you. Therefore, you have the power to change the situation. Accept nothing less.
SOURCE: Lonnie Harvey Jr., president, The JESCLON Group, Rock Hill, South Carolina, March 27, 2003.
The information contained in this article is intended to provide useful information on the topic covered, but should not be construed as legal advice or a legal opinion. Also remember that state laws may differ from the federal law.