5 Ways to Improve Employee Turnover

Many employers today are experiencing rapid, high employee turnover, which not only creates the issues of filling vacant positions, overworked staff, and low morale in the workplace, but also costs organisations billions of pounds each year.

The financial impact of excessive employee turnover alone can force an organisation to close its doors, and has many employers wondering how they can improve retention through effective hiring processes. Here are five ways to hire loyal employees and reduce turnover: 1. Assess the cultural fit of the job candidate. Maintaining cultural consistency within your company is a crucial factor in the productivity and satisfaction of your employees. A recent study showed that 46% of small-business new hires failed within 18 months, and a whopping 89% of those failures were directly related to poor cultural fit within the company.

How can employers assess candidates’ abilities to blend with their company culture?

1. Pre-hire employee assessments

Such as our ProfileXT® service, are great tools for gaining the information needed to measure an individual’s company culture compatibility. The Profile XT assessment reveals information on employee background, employment history, integrity, personal reliability, and work ethic.

2. Consider a trial period

Trial periods allow the new hire and company to mutually assess their compatibility without an obligation. A trial or probationary period can greatly increase the loyalty of your new hires and reduce turnover, as demonstrated by the fundraising company Engage Direct Mail, who implements a trial period of 90 days in their hiring process.

On average, Engage experiences 77% retention during the trial, which turns into about 95% retention after the three-month probationary period. Trials can be compared to dating – both sides share their expectations, values, and dreams. If they are in agreement, what’s to stop them from succeeding in the long-term? The key to probation periods is that they reveal any unknown factors to both the candidate and the employer.

3. Offer flexibility

Flexibility within a company allows employees to feel valued, and shows them their needs are recognised and respected. How important is flexibility to job seekers? According to a recent study carried out by the TimeWise Foundation, the demand for jobs that offer flexibility in the UK is almost half the population, however only 6.2% advertise this.

Work-life balance within an organisation is always a major consideration for job prospects, so offering flexitime and other accommodations for workers’ personal lives is an important factor in competitively attracting, hiring, and retaining top talent.

4. Use employee referrals

According to research from Jobvite, HR executives rated referrals the number one source of quality candidates; referrals also generated 39.9% of all hires. Employees hired on referral are also proven to be more loyal, as 46% of referred employees stay three years or more, compared to only 14% of hires from job boards. Referrals not only reduce turnover and recruiting efforts, but also empower employees by allowing them to have input in the hiring processes of their company.

5. Implement an onboarding program

Introducing an onboarding program into your hiring process can mean the difference between retaining a top employee for a lifetime, and watching them walk out the door after two months. Companies who implement an effective onboarding program during the first three months of new-hire employment experience 31% less turnover than those who don’t, according to the Aberdeen Group.

Onboarding is important because it introduces the employee to the company’s culture and expectations, and gives the employee vital training and information needed to succeed in their new position. A new hire’s company compatibility will likely be determined during the onboarding process, which can save the employer from prolonged investment in the wrong employee.

If your organisation is experiencing high turnover rates, you may be telling yourself, “the employees of today are not loyal like they were in the past,” or thinking, “there’s nothing I can do about it.” However, a more likely answer is you’ve simply been hiring the wrong people, and through the implementation of these five strategies, you can identify and hire talented, loyal employees.

As a partner of Summit Assessment Solutions, we can provide the Profile XT assessment tool; which can be used to measure how well an individual fits a specific job within your organisation. The “job matching” feature of the PXT is unique, enabling you to evaluate an individual relative to the qualities required to successfully perform in a specific job. It’s used throughout the employee life cycle; for selection, on-boarding, managing, and strategic workforce planning.