Employee Turnover: What It Is and How to Reduce It

As any business owner or human resource manager knows, employee turnover is one of the major factors that can hold back a company from reaching its goals. With 47.8 million workers voluntarily quitting their jobs in 2021 and about 50.5 million in 2022, employee turnover has become a common concern across different industries. While the number of quits has slowed and is normalizing to pre-pandemic figures in 2023, employee turnover remains relatively higher than in recent years.

If your agency is having issues with employee turnover, this post provides crucial data that you may use to address your problem effectively. In today’s blog, we share with you all the details you need to understand employee turnover and tips to manage it. 

What Is Employee Turnover?

Employee turnover is the total number of workers who quit a company or organization over a specific period of time, typically a year. Although turnover is often compared to attrition, the two terms have different contexts. Essentially, attrition includes voluntary and involuntary exits, while employee turnover only accounts for voluntary departures. 

To compute the employee turnover rate, we have to divide the number of employees who leave during a specific period by the average number of employees employed by the company at the beginning of the same period. Here’s a sample scenario and computation: if your company has 50 employees in a year and 3 people quit, the employee turnover rate is 0.06, or 6%. On average, companies should aim for no more than a 10% employee turnover rate.

Why Does Employee Turnover Matter?

As mentioned, employee turnover entails how many employees leave their jobs within a certain period of time. While a low turnover rate does not pose any threats, a high employee turnover rate can be alarming and take a toll on the company.

Having a high employee turnover rate requires a company to invest time and money in finding and training replacements. It can also lead to lost productivity and decreased morale among remaining employees. Apart from affecting the company’s workforce, a high turnover rate may harm the company’s reputation as well. Clients, business partners, and customers may begin to question a company's stability and whether it's a reliable place to do business if they observe that employees are departing on a regular basis.

Why Do Employees Quit? 

While it is impossible to determine the reason why a particular employee decides to quit, there are several common factors that may affect their decision. Below are some of them:

1. Poor compensation 
2. Lack of job growth and career opportunities 
3. Toxic work environment
4. Ineffective workplace policies 
5. Personal reasons such as change of passion

How to Reduce High Employee Turnover Rate

Let’s get real - there is no perfect formula to prevent employees from quitting. Nevertheless, it is still essential to exert effort and carry out actions to encourage them to stay. If you are struggling to reduce the high employee turnover rate in your company, here are some tips that you might find to be helpful. 

1. Hire a Candidate That Is Truly Fit for the Job

Taking the time to know your candidates, from their qualifications to their work history, helps you assess whether they are fit for the job or not. When a candidate’s skills and experience align with the job opportunity you are offering, there is a higher possibility that they will stay longer. This is because they are already familiar with the field of work and will have less stress and difficulty adjusting to their new role. 

2. Let the Candidate Know All the Work-Related Details Before Starting

Not clearly communicating the details about the role being offered to a worker can lead to misunderstandings and disappointments in the long run. Before officially hiring someone, it is imperative to outline all work-related details, such as the tasks and company policies. By doing so, you can alleviate any lingering anxiety your new hire may have and ensure that they are comfortable in their role. 

3. Choose Your Company Leaders Wisely 

Did you know that more than two out of five employees quit because of a bad manager? Believe it or not, it’s true. Poor management can affect the collective performance of a workforce and the well-being of employees. As such, it is crucial to choose leaders who can effectively work with people and manage them. 

4. Maintain Good Communication

Maintaining communication within your workforce can help you retain employees more than you think. According to a Zen HR report, effective team communication increases employee retention by 4.5 times. This is compared to businesses that lack effective communication within the workplace. 

With effective communication, you can establish a good relationship with your workers and boost their self-confidence. Active listening and open dialogues can also help in addressing issues that may affect employee retention

5. Boost Your Employees’ Morale

If your employees are feeling less motivated, you may need to take a look at the levels of employee morale in your workplace. Employee morale is the term used to describe how your employees are feeling towards their environment and job. It may be affected by various factors such as the workplace culture, work experience, and more. 

Boosting your employees’ morale comes with a number of benefits. These include increased employee engagement, satisfaction, productivity, and, more importantly, retention. Some of the ingenious ways to boost employee morale are rewarding employees for a job well done and providing options for professional growth within your organization. 

6. Support Work-Life Balance of Employees

The current generation of workers values the aspect of work-life balance now more than ever. In a FlexJobs 2022 Career Pulse Survey, 63% of the respondents said that they’d choose work-life balance over better pay. In addition to attracting workers, work-life balance can also affect employee retention and turnover.

To improve the work-life balance of your employees, you may offer flexible work schedules and benefits that meet their needs and invest in their professional growth. Besides these, we also suggest maintaining open communication and showing compassion to your workers. By fostering a professional environment that supports work-life balance, you can create a healthy work environment that has less stress and prevents burnout among your employees. 

Avoid High Employee Turnover With Enhanced Employee Management 

In addition to the aforementioned tips, it could be beneficial for you to examine your employee management strategies and streamline operations to decrease employee turnover. You can do this by utilizing technology-driven solutions such as StaffConnect.

StaffConnect is a business management software that helps businesses manage their process and workforce more efficiently. It simplifies business management by streamlining difficult business tasks and automating processes. Our app is equipped with the latest management tools for scheduling, communication, sending payroll, data collection, and more. It is also customizable, allowing you to maintain brand consistency in the platform. 

If you are ready to improve your staff management with StaffConnect, you may book a demo here and try out its practical features and functionalities for free.