Table of Contents
Introduction
When it comes to running a business, there are a huge number of things to manage and consider on your road to success.
However, with so much to think about, it can be difficult to give each area the attention it needs. Whether you’re just starting out or your brand is fully established, it’s the people who work for your business that really need your undivided attention. If you’ve noticed that staff are quitting and you have a high employee turnover, below are a few reasons why that could be.
But don’t worry, there’s also huge number of solutions to help you and your staff feel better about work.
Why are my staff leaving?
1. Poor leadership
For any business to succeed and run smoothly, there needs to be someone leading the tribe. If you’re a relatively new business, that leader is likely you. For those who are a little more established, you may have other managers in place that should be helping you attend to your staff and keeping everyone happy.
Solution: Give extra training to managers
Whether you’re the only manager or you have a team of management staff behind you, it’s clear that something isn’t quite working in the current set up.
Managers need to be ensuring that staff are not only as efficient and productive as possible, but also happy in their current situation, with plans in place for progression if that’s their end goal. If your staff are leaving and you’re not sure why, it’s certainly worth having a discussion with them and their manager to see if there are any obvious reasons.
It might be worth looking into HR services Salt Lake City to help with the discussion process, as staff may feel more comfortable discussing things about management with a more impartial team.
If it’s clear that management seems to be the reason for high staff turnover, it’s time to invest in some leadership training. Training will help managers to communicate with people correctly, help with objective setting and how to create structured performance assessments. That way, your managers will be actually equipped to manage their teams in a positive and productive way.
2. No job security or progression
As we spend almost a third of our lives at work, most people will want to know that their hard work can lead to better things. Progression plans can give staff the motivation to keep going, even on the tough days,as there is reward and promotion in sight. Without this, most people will struggle to see any reason to maintain productivity or put their full effort into the work.
Similarly, if staff don’t have job security, their eyes may wander to other potential roles – leaving you with a skills gap and a less than appealing job to fill. Especially after recent events, people are looking for job security to know that their finances and lifestyle are certain in the future.
Solution: Invest in your staff
If for some reason you can’t provide your staff a secure contract, there are plenty of other ways to invest in your staff’s future. You could offer to pay for training courses or qualifications that will help both you and them or even send them to conferences to network.
As for career progression, all staff should have 1-to-1 meetings with their managers to create goals and discuss expectations. When goals are met, these should be acknowledged with additional responsibilities, promotions, a pay rise or bonus.
Also Read: The key to studying from home – establishing study habits and routines
3. Low salaries
There may be nothing wrong with the work or management in your business. It might simply be that staff can find better salaries for the same work elsewhere. Of course, businesses can offer more to staff than just high salaries – such as a better work life balance, social activities and work perks – but if someone is struggling financially, none of these bonuses pay the bills.
When staff are feeling overworked, underpaid or unappreciated, they’re much more likely to look elsewhere.
Solution: Offer competitive salaries and other benefits
Understanding the current market value of certain skills is a good way to ensure you’re paying staff the salaries they deserve and more importantly, the salaries they can earn elsewhere. However, there are also other work perks that can soften the blow of a low salary. Such as offering free childcare to families, or investing in staff education if there’s something they’d like a pursue.
4. The job didn’t suit the person
Sometimes, an employee finds themselves struggling with a role or simply not feeling like the right fit for the job. That’s completely acceptable and is somewhat inevitable without the right recruitment plan in place.
For some, the work might be perfect, but the working environment and their colleagues might be the issue. People should always be encouraged to do what’s right for them and that will sometimes mean leaving a job to find something better fitting.
Solution: Enhance your recruitment process
Finding the right employee for the job can be difficult – especially when factoring in the losses your business might make while the position is vacant. It can sometimes feel better to simply find someone to fill the role, rather than taking time to find the right person.
However, enhancing and improving the recruitment process will help with staff retention and save you money in the long run.
When interviewing a potential employee, don’t just think about their skillset; think about how they might fit into the current workforce and workplace culture. It’s also worth not just looking at qualifications. As sometimes those without a degree or qualification actually have more experience or knowledge to offer.
Not every resignation will be a direct reflection on your company from an Employee. There are endless reasons why someone may look for work elsewhere or hand in their notice. However, as shown above, there are plenty of ways you can look to improve your workplace culture in order to give staff more reason to stay. Sometimes these things just take thinking outside the box to find the perfect solution that was right under your nose all along.
