Australia has without a doubt been a casualty of the Great Resignation. From February 2021 to February 2022, 1.3 million employed Australians changed jobs, according to new data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). That’s 1 in 10 workers. And in the UK, according to Bloomberg one-fifth of workers are planning to quit their jobs in the next 12 months.
This may be true but what is the price of this for businesses?
According to Gallup, replacing employees sits between one-half and two times their annual salary. Workers quitting is costing businesses more money than ever.
So how do we avoid attrition and what can we do to potentially be a winner in the great resignation by preparing for the great return (or avoiding mass attrition in general)!
This blog outlines the best practices for retaining employees and how to lure high performers back should you part ways.
1. Audit your Employee Experience
According to Denise Lee Yohn in a Harvard Business Review Article, “Why every company needs a Chief Experience Officer”:
Customer and Employee Experience are now two of the driving forces of business.
Audit your recruitment process all the way through to your off-boarding. Ensure you provide a consistent and sustainable experience for all your employees. Consider championing or hiring a team member with the role to maintain and optimise this focus with the aim to create a culture of stayers.
2. Get Training
With the rise of micro-credentials, freemium courses and webinars, there’s never been a better or easier time to ensure your employees are being invested in. With a solution like Cloud Assess, busy “deskless” and frontline workers can easily access their courses on their mobile phone or tablet, bringing digital learning to the shop floor or wherever suits them. With the skills shortages in industries like aged care having access to solutions that make it easy to train and assess makes training less of a chore.
3. Communicate Effectively
Build in regular team meetings to keep the flow of company information going and ensure each employee is connected to the company goal. In addition, don’t let those annual appraisals or coffee catch-ups with each employee be overshadowed by, “more pressing things”. Empower your staff to contribute to the next big idea and motivate and inspire them. Listening is the key here.
According to business experts at The Office Club, an emphasis on communication equips employees to “feel valued, satisfied and motivated” which enhances their morale and increases their output.
4. Make pathways for growth
All employees are motivated differently but if you have someone eager to learn and progress ensure there is room to grow in their role or the company. Create Business Playbooks or Standard Operating Procedures to ensure that rapid training of a new skill can take place quickly if and when required.
5. Flexibility is key
Who doesn’t want flexibility these days!! Reviewing your employees’ work hours to become more flexible has a huge impact on job satisfaction and their overall mental health. Having a work-life balance is key.
An ACAS report on flexible working and work-life balance showed how a poor balance can lead to absence, low productivity and stress.
But when balance is achieved, benefits can include:
- Better levels of efficiency and productivity
- Lower levels of absence, sickness and stress
- A motivated workforce
- Improved customer service
- Higher retention levels
- More applicants for vacancies
6. Credit when due
Rewards do not need to be monetary (all the time).
A Harvard business review article outlined that rewards should speak to employees’ emotional needs and go beyond their monetary compensation.
Recognition in front of the company, lunches with the boss, handwritten notes, etc., can all contribute to the positive culture of the company. (I personally have kept all of the handwritten notes from my Managers )
7. Offboarding process
A recent article in HR Zone suggests that as many as 1.5million workers will Boomerang back to their old employers in the UK. They suggest the perfect way to off-board to ensure the top performers come back. This includes conducting an exit interview or survey and checking in with them regularly.
8. Rehiring?
Consider the do’s and don’ts that Upskilled coined. Once you are sure you want to rehire follow a systematic plan to onboard, retrain and script a reason for return. It’s a good idea to keep in touch with existing employees. Ensure you are connected on LinkedIn, create an alumni to keep them engaged through newsletters etc and check in with the top performers regularly. You never know when things can change.
In closing,
For training providers, employee experience is just as important as the learner experience and goes hand in hand with business success. Lee Yohn states that what a lot of companies miss is that a great employee experience leads to a great customer experience.
For businesses (whose business is not to train customers), your employees are your learners and it’s their skills and mindset that will set you up for success. Learn more about Cloud Assess employee training software.
