Is Turnover Part of your Culture
Is Turnover Killing your Organization?
I recently talked to a potential client about an issue they were having with turnover. They had been through several people in a mid level position in the past year. During our conversation I asked the usual questions about their company, work hours, culture and the general expectations for this job. I came away with the distinct impression that they have some serious disconnects with how they describe a position and what the position is in reality. This was a typical office position with a 40 hour per week schedule. In the past year anyone in this position worked at least 50 plus hours per week (salaried). Because of the turnover a new hire was immediately expected to jump in and “catch-up” so they probably were working at least 60 hours per week to impress their new employer.
Based on the length of tenure for the people who were hired and have now left, here are a couple of things I suspect to be true:
The people who had some financial security left as soon as they realized that the job was always going to be the same 50 plus hours per week.
Those that needed the job stayed until they were able to find a new position.
I believe that there is a lack of leadership within this company or at the very least, a complete disconnect from the daily operations.
What if this position had been at a very high level in this organization? Could they afforded to have a Sales Director replaced 3 times in a year? If you are not retaining an employee for at least 2 years or if you consider your business to have high turnover there should be an immediate review by the leadership in your organization. The cost of turnover is hidden in many companies but it still exists. The National Labor Bureau estimates that the cost of hiring an employee and having them leave within a year can cost 1 to 5 times their annual salary. I can guarantee you that turnover is costing you money even if you can’t or don’t know how to measure its impact. Take action now!
How do you reduce your turnover? Start with realistic expectations and job descriptions. Very few people are going to stay in a salaried position that regularly works 25-50% more than a normal 40 hour week. Sure there are always times when it’s necessary to put in more time. If it’s required consistently (or expected) to do the job, how long will your employee stay once the economy improves? Perform an organizational survey to get an employees perspective on the company. You may be very surprised at what you learn! Take action. Get to the real reasons you have turnover in a position or as a company. Maybe you have tighten the belt too much during the recent down turn and need to hire people to handle the current work load. Or perhaps you need to restructure the position to make it manageable. Either way it will impact your bottom line and maybe customers if you don’t respond to this as a crisis.
What is the impact on your HR department? Does this amount of turnover keep them from fulfilling other functions? Can you afford to live with your turnover rate? Does it impact the moral of the existing employee’s? Let us know your thoughts on turnover and the impact is has on your business. Leave a comment below
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Tags: Employment, Feature, Human resources, Organizational culture, turnover
