Over the past year, and largely fueled by the pandemic, the term “Great Resignation” has become all too familiar with employers as well as the headache of employee turnover. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, approximately 38.6 million resignations occurred between January and September 2022, and the number of employees quitting has remained fairly steady month over month.

Today, a fair number of employers are experiencing the adverse impacts of workforce turnover. In terms of financial loss, the cost of replacing an employee can range from one-half to two times the employee’s annual salary, depending on their role. Additionally, declining productivity, a lack of engagement and low morale are present as remaining associates must often pick up the slack from departing team members. This can lead to even more employees quitting. One might ask the question: Is there an end in sight to the revolving door of employee turnover?

It is essential for employers to dig deeper into this problem to understand what is happening and to start the process of turning the Great Resignation into the Great Retention this year. In a recent survey by iHire, 2,665 U.S. workers named the top five reasons employees left jobs in the past 12 months:

• Unhappy with their manager/supervisor (43.7%)
• Unsatisfactory pay/salary (43.4%)
• Poor work/life balance (35.4%)
• Lack of recognition/appreciation (29.7%)
• Few growth/advancement opportunities (28.3%)

It is not a surprise that “unsatisfactory pay” was on the list at number two. Having a competitive compensation strategy is crucial to retention, especially in the economic climate we have today. However, it’s important to note that the other four reasons listed for turnover revolve around the employer needing to put its people first and improving the company culture.

Benefits like health insurance, profit sharing and paid time off have become fundamental expectations in the wake of the pandemic. Not to underestimate their value because they are important, but benefits are not driving employee retention. To open the door to the Great Retention, company culture must be addressed.

Creating a Positive Work Environment.

Getting your managers on board is the first step to creating a positive work environment. Difficulties with management was the top reason employees left a job this past year. Setting standards for transparency in communication can strengthen the employee/manager relationship. This can be accomplished by holding frequent meetings, actively listening, and maintaining an open-door policy. You may need to offer additional training to ensure managers are approachable and helpful.

Other ways you can enhance your work environment and improve the employee experience is to expand your diversity and inclusion efforts, institute a regular recognition program to celebrate your employees and, if possible, expand options for how work gets done (e.g., remote, hybrid, flex time, job sharing, etc.).

Employee Well-Being

Poor mental health due to work-related issues is on the rise. According to a recent study by Corporate Wellness Magazine, 31% of workers experienced a decline in their mental health over the past year. That is up 24% from the end of 2020. You can start addressing your employees’ well-being by offering subscriptions to meditation apps, mental health benefits like an Employee Assistance Program (EAP), online counseling, and mental health PTO. It is also a good idea to make sure that your company’s health insurance covers mental health services. Being flexible with your employees can help prevent burnout and improve mental health while assisting them in establishing a good work/life balance.

Don’t forget about the financial side of well-being — giving employees access to a lifestyle savings account or stipends for home office equipment, student loans, travel to and from the office expenses, and more can up the ante.

Career Growth

Today’s workforce wants the ability to plan for their future and know whether they can see themselves working with you long-term. Remaining status quo can lead to employee disengagement, a slow, quiet quitting, and eventually, can result in them walking out the door for good. Providing your employees with opportunities to enrich their skills and grow professionally pays off. Offering training and reimbursing associates for those expenses (coursework, advanced degrees and certifications) is a great way to invest in your employees. Encourage your managers to work with their teams and clearly define employee career goals. Then create a plan for how they can achieve them.

Your company mission should be shared with employees and talked about from time to time. Employees should be familiar with it and understand its importance. Make sure it’s clear to your employees how their roles contribute to the success of the company moving forward. This can engage them and makes their work fulfilling and meaningful. When their work is fulfilling and meaningful, it can increase the likelihood of them staying and growing with your organization.

Stay Interviews

One more thing to think about is stay interviews. They are a highly effective retention tactic that is often overlooked. These interviews involve holding structured conversations — verbally or in writing — with your current employees to learn more about what concerns they might have and what they need to maintain job satisfaction. In other words, you need to learn what will make the employee want to stay and keep working for you. Some organizations make a mistake by assuming that, just because their employee shows up to work, they are happy. Be open to honest feedback, but don’t push too hard if an employee doesn’t want to elaborate on their comments. This practice should be done yearly and can help you take action and proactively address issues and devise a retention plan before it’s too late. As a bonus, stay interviews can contribute to building and fostering a culture of transparency and trust.

Sample stay interview questions might include:

• What aspects of your job do you enjoy the most? Why?
• If nothing was off the table, what would you change about your job to make it more satisfying?
• What would cause you to look for another job?
• Can you tell me about a frustrating day at work you’ve had recently? A great one?

Conclusion

As workforce turnover continues, companies must work hard to overcome losing costly talent by creating a positive, inclusive and flexible work environment that supports employees’ well-being and career growth goals. And many of the retention efforts described above are doable for businesses of any size and come with no significant added cost. Now is the time to create a plan and implement retention strategies in your company. Take care of your employees, and you can make 2023 the year of the Great Retention.