MightyRecruiterAsk 10 employers how turnover rates affect a business and chances are you will get 10 different answers to the question. Everyone agrees that employee retention matters, but few understand its true correlation with productivity in the workplace.
For years, businesses have focused on retaining employees despite little guarantee of positive results. In reality, minimizing turnover does not automatically equate to higher profit margins, which is why we believe a wider range of criteria is required to assess the loyalty of your staff and create a long-term foundation for success.
A Single Facet of Retention
Although employee retention matters to your bottom line, it is easy to become blinded by the monetary gains associated with low turnover. Obvious financial benefits include lower separation costs, training expenses and recruitment fees, especially in industries where job-hopping has generated an increasing number of budgetary concerns.
While this is a very real advantage in most cases, nothing can secure the future of your business if the employees you have retained lack dedication and commitment. In a way, your employees are your clients too, and you need their support to gain a better foothold in the marketplace.
The Missing Piece of the Puzzle
The primary mistake made by most businesses is relying on data to interpret employee engagement. However, a company compares multiple observations and reports to find out how happy customers are with a brand. It stands to reason that the happiness of employees should be measured the same way to reflect the underlying satisfaction of your staff.
As a rule, you must look beyond the traditional metrics of turnover to determine why employee retention matters. A worker who chooses to stay in one position may do so for many reasons. However, as an employer, the only acceptable motivation to stay is an actively engaging career with your company.
To be fair, employees do demand a different category of fulfillment than consumers. Customer satisfaction involves meeting the expectations of a client, whereas satisfaction in the workplace is measured by professional gratification and the achievement of organizational goals. The only way to facilitate this level of engagement is to actively communicate with your staff and provide structure and direction based on a deeper understanding of their needs.
A Greater Aspiration
At this point, you may be thinking that no single measure of performance could possibly offer a clear vision of employee loyalty in your firm ïand you would be correct. That is why we propose a combination of four diverse assessments to evaluate the commitment of your staff. Use them to track workplace engagement more accurately and compare your results to competitors in the same industry.
-How likely are employees to recommend your company to friends or family members
This question can be answered through periodic surveys of employee satisfaction using a simple point response scale. The idea is that employees who are highly engaged are more likely to invite others into the workplace, indicating a certain level of confidence from your staff.
-How many referrals have you received from staff members in the past year
To verify the opinions represented in these surveys, compare the results with a recent tally of referrals from your existing employees. In fact, encouraging an active referral program provides you with a powerful metric to discern how pleased people are with the current work environment.
-Do employees feel comfortable making suggestions
If staff members take the time to suggest improvements or ideas, they care about the role they play in your organization. An employer who fosters innovation and communication naturally cements the loyalty of top performers within the company.
-What types of behavior are regularly exhibited by employees
Pay attention to consistent behavioral signs that your employees are no longer happy and engaged. People who go above and beyond the requirements of their profession are more likely to remain loyal to your company, while those who stumble in late each day lack dedication to a common cause.
The Transforming Power of Loyalty
If employee retention matters but is only measured by stark data, it may lead to mediocrity, Businesses must delve deeper into the perceptions of the workplace to unearth its hidden values and transform them into a wide-open pathway to satisfaction and success. In this way, the loyalty of your staff will increase as you build an engaging atmosphere that defines your organizational culture as a whole.
As you attempt to understand how employee retention matters compared to the true commitment and loyalty of your staff, take advantage of the resources available here at Mighty Recruiter to learn more about productivity and engagement in the workplace.