There are multiple reasons for a high employee turnover, and there are also multiple ways you can deal with it. These are four of the reasons and how you can resolve them.
One of the biggest reasons for a high employee turnover is a lack of opportunities for growth. Millennials enter the workplace with a desire for personal growth, and this doesn’t necessarily mean endless promotions. Personal growth simply means the opportunity to grow and develop skills, by being given further training, exploring other roles or departments within the company, or just improving knowledge and skills in their role. The possibilities for growth will obviously depend on the size of your company and the amount of budget you have to work with, but offering nothing is a key reason why an employee might look to leave.
Another reason someone may look to leave is a lack of recognition for the work they put in. While this is unlikely to be the only reason someone would look to leave, it can be the make or break factor when it comes to going or staying. Giving feedback and recognising when someone is working hard and doing well is a simple but effective way to combat a high employee turnover. Feedback doesn’t have to wait for annual performance reviews, but can be an ongoing thing to keep your employees happy and successful.
A lack of flexibility and autonomy within their role could cause certain employees to look elsewhere for roles that will fit around their lives. This could apply to parents, who want the option of working flexibly around drop off and pick up times, or who want to be at home with their kids during school holidays. Also, millennials generally enjoy being able to figure out a more flexible work schedule, and being allowed to work from home allows employees to travel the world while still working. While this isn’t an option in all industries – a teacher can’t work from home, for example – if it is an option in your workplace you may want to consider more flexible hours and autonomous roles to combat a high employee turnover.
A major factor in high employee turnovers is bad relationships between bosses and employees. While bosses don’t have to be best friends with all of their employees, employees need to be able to trust their boss and feel comfortable going to them with an issue. This trust can be built through regular feedback sessions where issues can be discussed and resolved. Without this mutual understanding, employees are more likely to feel less comfortable at work, and looking for new jobs is an obvious way to deal with this.
These are four potential reasons for (and solutions to) a high employee turnover, and addressing the issues that could be making your employees look for jobs elsewhere is the best way to hold on to the best employees you have. If a high employee turnover means that you have roles to fill, start your recruitment process the right way by downloading our guide to writing successful job adverts.