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Offering Sustainable Advancement Opportunities

career development meeting

A recent study by the Society for Human Resources Management found that providing opportunities for career advancement was a key consideration for employees – ranking right behind compensation as a driver of turnover. So, if modern employees are concerned about career development, what can you do to help ensure that workers in your organization have access to the career advancing tools they’re looking for?

Consider Professional Development, Not Just Advancement

Believe it or not, development is just as important as actual promotions! If someone isn’t ready for a promotion immediately, but you want to maintain them as talent – ensure that you’re helping them further their skills and development to prepare them for eventual advancement. The most common form of professional development is offering credits for further education and upskilling. This can take the form of an employee interested in the management track getting their MBA, an engineer looking to learn a new programming language, or many other avenues. Putting some money aside for development credits of these kinds is a reliable way to reduce turnover and encourage long-term loyalty of highly skilled employees. Strong development programs send a message that you’re not just interested in extracting value from individual employees, but instead in being a partner on their complete career journey.

Offer Clear Paths to Success in One on Ones or Development Meetings

Communication is critical at all levels of business, and nowhere is this more apparent than employee retention. If you want to retain promising employees within your organization, managers, executives, or HR professionals should be having open conversations about where they see their career going. More importantly, you should discuss how the organization can help them to get where they want to be. These development meetings not only give you an essential pulse-check on employee ambitions, they can also give you a heads-up if someone feels they don’t have the upwards trajectory they’re looking for.  By helping address their developmental needs, you’re more than likely to save your organization from some costly turnover.

Everyone’s Path is Different

Some employees may be interested in the ‘traditional’ route of eventually managing a team. Others may wish to cultivate other specialized skill sets, or branch out into something new entirely. Allowing these diverse paths of development through personal plans and conversations is important – as is continuing to mentor and develop veteran workers, even after they become managers or specialists. Learning is a lifelong experience, and you should strive to build a forward-pushing culture that encourages it!

Think About Advancement Before Your Employees Are Perfectly “Ready”

It can be easy to fall into the trap of waiting for “that perfect moment” to advance an employee, or until they’re absolutely, 100% confident in their abilities to tackle a higher position. But the truth is that people are rarely, if ever totally confident in their abilities to handle something new before they’ve actually got hands-on experience doing it, whether it’s working with a new piece of software or managing a team. If you’re confident in an employee’s experiences, and more importantly their ability to learn and grow, you should consider advancing their position before they’re perfectly ‘ready’, since they’ll be able to grow into the role and discover hands-on if it’s really right for them. These moves are also a sign of trust in an employee’s competence and long-term prospects with the company. Those are essential qualities for long-term retention!

Cultivating sustainable advancement can often be boiled down to providing the opportunities in both time and credit for professional and skill development, combined with the trust to let employees realize those skills in a hands-on setting. As always, it comes down to some of the fundamentals of good business practice; Open, active communication, and trust within teams. Applying these principles to any aspect of your business will bring back positive results – in this case, in the form of a more qualified, high-skill, and loyal employee base that has your organization to thank for not only cultivating its professional development, but also in providing the opportunity to put it to good use.

Check out PerkSpot’s Blog for more advice on building workplaces that are great to work at, or schedule a demo if you’d like to hear more about how PerkSpot can help reduce costs and drive positive culture in your organization!

How to Handle Workplace Bullying

frustrated employee

Today’s modern, dynamic, rapidly-moving workplace comes with many advantages. We benefit from agile organizational structures with an atmosphere where anyone can shine. Or, at least, that’s what we like to say. And while these benefits make a big difference in employee’s lives, the changing modern workplace has also changed what bullying looks like, transforming it from open abuse of power into something that tends to be quieter, manipulative, and more insidious.

With open-faced bullying seen as totally unacceptable, workplace bullying often instead takes the form of competitive employees defaming others, attempting to manufacture situations where they’ll look like the hero. For example, a common tactic employed by this kind of toxic personality is to claim credit for co-worker’s key deliverables. Then, they’ll use those same deliverables as evidence of why they’re a better performer than their ‘target’. When conflicts invariably spring up from these lies, if management isn’t careful, workplace bullies will tend to have the edge in the ‘he-said, she-said’ conflict due to focusing more on telling executives about the work ‘they’ did rather than actually doing the work.

Handling Office Conflict Responsibly

Needless to say, workplace bullies can destroy a team’s cohesion and productivity, and it’s essential for leadership to detect and remove these kinds of people ASAP before they can gain power in the office. That being said, rushing to fire someone who exhibits bullying behavior is not always the correct move! There are a range of reasons why an employee might engage in bullying; including personal insecurities or even mental illness. 

While stopping bullying is critical, it’s also important to understand motivation for an effective response. That might include sensitivity training sessions, a recommendation to see a therapist, or simply termination from the company. As a leader, it will ultimately fall on you to decide which approach is right for your situation.

Common Patterns of Workplace Bullies

It’s also important not to misconstrue or hastily judge the situation. Behaviors that appear to be rooted in bullying may in fact stem from deeper, institutional issues within the organization, such as cruel or over-competitive traditions. To help distinguish, here are some common patterns of legitimate bullies in the workplace:

  • Consistently redirecting conversations about team efforts to focus exclusively on their personal contribution
  • Displaying a lack of empathy or care for the feelings or workload of others
  • Highly judgemental, and willing to delay or jeopardize projects over minor personal issues
  • Takes poorly to any kind of criticism, even constructive criticism, often viewing it as insulting

How To Document and Report Conflict

These traits all but guarantee someone is a bad fit for any workplace. If you start to notice them, there’s a real chance that you have a workplace bully on your hands! And if you’re an employee stuck in a situation with a bullying co-worker or even boss, make sure to document a pattern of behavior before presenting to Human Resources. Not only will it help you construct a case, but also allow you to examine your relationship with your co-worker. A detached perspective will help you understand if it’s actually a case of workplace bullying or something else entirely. No matter the case, your office will feel the positive impact of removing toxic influences. And you might be surprised how fast things change when you take action!

Check out PerkSpot’s Five Focus Areas for Building a Better Workplace for more advice on building healthy, sustainable long-term culture at your organization.

4 Key Strategies to Boost Your Employee Experience

employees experiencing post it notes

Businesses in the United States lose productivity worth about $300 billion a year due to disengaged workers.

But the good news is that you can increase employee engagement by boosting employee experience. Employees who have a positive experience are likely to be more engaged than those with a negative experience. And creating a positive experience is simple. Let’s take a look at how you can do it.

1. Improve Internal Communication

Ask any HR expert- strong internal communication in the workplace is a huge factor in the employee experience.

Effective communication leads to better collaboration which helps develop employee relationships. It boosts the morale, engagement, satisfaction, and productivity of your employees. Plus, increased communication in the workplace promotes a sense of community and creates cohesion in the organization. This is especially important in a remote or hybrid work environment.

Start by making your workplace a safe space where employees can share accomplishments in their personal and professional lives.

Here are a few other tips to open communication lines:

  • Schedule regular 1:1 sessions. Use this time to learn about any concerns they may have before they turn into bigger problems. It’s also a great time to address their happiness at work.
  • Schedule weekly team meetings as well. It helps members know what others in the team are working on and find opportunities to collaborate. Members can share any setbacks they may be experiencing and get help from teammates.
  • Always give the ‘why’ behind every action you take. It helps create a more transparent atmosphere. 
  • Give constructive feedback. Instead of criticizing, help them learn from their mistakes. This can boost the morale of your employees, which would otherwise drop if you keep criticizing them.
  • Use communication channels to openly recognize employees’ contributions. It’s a great way to motivate them as they’ll see their work being recognized.

2. Act on Feedback

Collecting feedback to understand your employees’ job satisfaction and assess the dynamics of the workplace is great. 

But do you act on this feedback?  If not, you’re losing out, and this inaction can make employees lose trust in you. They are likely to stop giving feedback if they feel unheard. To build employee confidence, first ensure your feedback surveys are anonymous.

This will empower employees to be candid about the issues affecting them in the workplace, and help you implement the changes they want to see.

Once you collect the feedback, communicate your action plan in relation to the issues they raise. If, for instance, your sales and marketing team raised an issue on inefficiency in lead generation, highlight the growth software you’ve adopted in response to this feedback. It’ll go a long way in improving employee experience.

3. Create Growth Opportunities

About 22% of employees cited ‘career issues’ as the number one reason they left their jobs in 2021, largely seeking opportunities for growth and promotion. This concern even comes ahead of other major issues like work-life balance.  

 graph of employee experience

Image via Work Institute

This means having opportunities for growth in the workplace can keep your employees happy and content. It’s one of the main ways to boost employee experience in your company.

Good growth opportunities should:

  • Be accessible to all employees
  • Cater to the different experience levels and needs of your employees
  • Center around short-term and long-term objectives

Instead of hiring externally for leadership positions, promote your employees. Empower them to qualify for these promotions by helping them expand their skills. You can:

  • Use the online course creation platforms to create job-specific training. This Thinkific review can get you started
  • Create mentorship programs
  • Help employees expand their skills through cross-training and stretch assignments
  • Create leadership development programs
  • Set up a tuition reimbursement program. Or if you’re looking to control business spending, encourage them to take up massive open online courses (MOOCs)

Discuss long-term career goals with each employee and create a development plan that gets them there.

4. Create a Strong Company Culture

Company culture encompasses what’s acceptable and applauded in your organization. It’s what the company stands for and the key values that define the organization.

Positive work culture creates an environment where employees are happy to be with each other, committed to the company goals, and engaged in their work.

Create policies that curb barriers to positive company culture, such as:

  • Uniform framework for annual reviews
  • Diversity and inclusion policies
  • Adopting remote and hybrid communication tools and policies
  • Flexible working hours and leave policies to improve work-life balance
  • Placing a cap on the number of work hours to ensure workload management

You can make a video collage that demonstrates the mission, goals, and values your company holds dear. Using this or a similar tool in your onboarding process can help get new employees accustomed to the tone of your work environment from the get-go.

What Next?

It’s time to put these strategies into action to boost your employee experience.

Start by leveling up communication in your organization. It’ll make it easy for employees to build workplace relationships.

Additionally, implement the right changes by paying attention to employee feedback.

Finally, create an environment your employees want to stay and work in by opening up growth opportunities and building a positive company culture.

Once you put these into practice, you’re sure to experience higher employee productivity and retention rates!

 

Contributor Profile:

Gaurav Sharma is the founder and CEO of Attrock, a results-driven digital marketing company. He regularly contributes to top publications such as HuffPost, Adweek, Business 2 Community, TechCrunch, and more. Connect on Socials: Twitter, LinkedIn

Turning Your Objectives into Real Results

idea wall

Anyone who’s ever been part of a strategy meeting knows that coming up with objectives is always the easiest part. Managers and entrepreneurs especially can relate to that nagging feeling of “too many ideas, too little time’. Coming up with amazing ideas might not be easy, but turning a great concept into positive metrics is the real challenge.

In many ways, bridging the gap from idea to result is the core responsibility of any team leader, as nearly every team – no matter how talented and happy to be in the organization – depends on you to ‘steer the ship’ and productively direct their efforts.

That being said, you’ll have a much easier time acting on your ideas with a supportive, engaged, and satisfied team to carry out action plans. But even the best team needs direction and guidance to turn those concepts into something tangible. So, without further ado, here’s three concrete tips to keep in mind as you build your next big campaign!

Set Deadlines and Keep To Them

Remember when you’re setting up your deadlines that unexpected roadblocks can always cause delays. Building a reasonable deadline means accounting for the possibility of delays – so take the time to think about them beforehand! Keeping to your deadlines encourages employees to closely follow your campaign plans and fosters a culture of not only trust but also mutual accountability  – making it far easier to transform those objectives into tangible results!

Don’t Delay Moving on your Action Items

It’s rare that any project will have total smooth sailing without any unexpected hurdles along the way. The best way to prepare for delays is to get started on your project plan immediately! The power of getting started promptly is often underestimated, but hitting the ground running sets the tone and pace. If a lethargic start can lead to an underwhelming project, an enthusiastic one can set the stage for greatness. Demonstrate that you’re serious about turning your ideas into action by tackling execution enthusiastically right off the bat!

Lead by Example – Show, Don’t Tell

Most important of all is to be directly involved in the process. You can help through personal, visible contribution on key items, or by providing a clear and reasonable roadmap to the team that breaks down the wider objective into bite-size elements matching individual talents. Translating your ideas to results is often a matter of initiative. Big ideas are never easy! And sometimes, they can look harder when you get to documenting every step you’ll need. But by providing clear direction and quick, steady movement on each point, you can get the results of your dreams! For many top-level objectives in Human Resources, PerkSpot can be a part of the solution, providing actionable benefits that impact your organization’s turnover and retention rate. Reach out now, or learn more about how PerkSpot can help you reach your goals!

An Inside Look At PerkSpot’s Headquarters

We’re headed behind the scenes to get a glance at PerkSpot’s Headquarters located in Downtown Chicago. At PerkSpot, our mission is to inspire others to love where they work, and that starts right here with our own employees. What began as an idea has now sprouted into a company that is changing the lives of employees at more than 1,000 businesses around the world, all with the goal to build a better place to work.

Above all, we are proud to be a leader in the human resources space, creating new and valuable ways for employers to provide financial wellness for over one million employees with an attitude of humility, generosity, and gratitude.

 

 

 

Collaboration is Key

PerkSpot’s office is built for collaboration. With two stories of workspaces, the options are endless.

 

 

 

 

Open-Air Concept

With an open-air concept, employees are able to smoothly work cross-functionally with other internal teams. In addition, there are plenty of meeting rooms available for private meetings. 

 

 

 

 

 

The Kitchen

Did someone say free lunch? The PerkSpot kitchen is the perfect place to mingle with colleagues. It’s also a great place to cheers to our successes!

 

 

 

 

 

Creative Nooks

Why work from a desk when you can work from a couch? PerkSpot has multiple nooks to let your creativity flow.

 

 

 

 

 

Historical Elements

Located at 320 W Ohio Street, the PerkSpot office has historical elements throughout with brick walls and industrial accents.

 

 

 

 

 

Natural Sunlight

You don’t have to worry about a lack of sunlight here. In other words, with windows on every wall, natural lighting is always present.

 

 

 

 

A Culture of Recognition

We are proud of our accomplishments. In other words, our recognition wall is the perfect motivation for all employees.

 

 

 

 

Outstanding People

Our people are pretty great. Throughout the office you’ll find PerkSpotters hard at work to provide the best possible experience for our members.

 

 

 

 

Work Hard, Play Hard

PerkSpotters like to have fun too! We frequently hold events both in-person and virtually to connect with our peers and get to know one another.

 

 

For our colleagues in Chicago, we offer the flexibility to work remotely. Yet, we cherish our in-person monthly All Hands meetings along with occasional in-office collaboration days. For our remote employees, we offer occasional travel into the office for team and company events.

 Recently, PerkSpot was named one of Built In Chicago’s 2022 Midsize Companies Best Places To Work and one of America’s Fastest-Growing Companies by Inc. 5000. 

We’re always looking for people who align with our core values, an essential part of who we are as a company. Are you interested in becoming a PerkSpotter? Check out our open positions and apply today!

6 Ways to Foster a Sense of Belonging in Your Workplace

You Belong

Workplace studies in recent years consistently show that employees are increasingly seeking more than just competitive salaries and benefits in their employment; they’re also looking for a sense of belonging and purpose. Even if you pay competitive rates, modern employees need to also feel like their work is meaningful, and that they’re a valued member of not only your company – but also its community. 

In the wake of the ‘Great Resignation’, some have begun to call this increasing trend towards employees seeking belonging in the workplace as the ‘Great Reflection’, with work-from-home and rapidly changing economic conditions leading many to think big-picture about their lives, their work, and what it all really means

So what can you do to help bring your employees a sense of purpose in their work? Start with these six tips for building a constructive and meaningful environment!

1. Collectively Define Company Culture

Promote the value of diverse opinions and employees participating in defining company culture; remember, the purpose of your organization isn’t simply a by-line decided by the executive team, it should be a set of values held and agreed upon across the entire org!

2. Focus on Sustainable Performance

Focus on sustainable long-term performance rather than driving for overly ambitious performance. In the long run, a sustainable performer is 17% more productive than an average employee. They’re also 1.7x more likely to stay with their current organization! Ultra-high performers can lead to a quick burst, but are ultimately unsustainable.

3. Keep Employee Wellness & Belonging in Mind

Pay attention to individual employee needs and mental well-being. There’s a fine line between being considerate and prying. Even so, make sure employees feel safe in confiding and addressing wellness concerns by providing a considerate and honest atmosphere.

4. Get Rid of Micromanagement

Throw out micro-managerial behavior and give employees the freedom to approach their work in the ways they’re most comfortable. Trusting employees to be responsible for their own work not only tends to improve quality, it also empowers them with a sense of value towards their position in the wider organization!

5. Refine your Processes to Cut Busywork

Always be looking for ways to axe busywork in favor of refining business-critical processes. The more unnecessary red tape you can cut out and the more trust placed in individual employees to carry out important aspects of your business model, the more they’ll feel like a direct part of what makes the business run. Trapping rockstar employees in mundane day-in day-out work is sure to kill their sense of purpose in the organization! 

6. Make your Workplace Human-Centric

While productivity is the ultimate goal of any organization, companies are always made up of diverse individuals. Feeling like cogs in a machine is absolute anathema to building any sense of purpose. The most important objective of human resources has to be making employees feel like they’re part of something more. ‘Human-centric’ is a broad term that can include company-wide pride events all the way down to individual check-ins and honest, open conversations. But whatever approach you take, it all comes down to the same core principle. Show your employees that they’re seen and valued as people, not just productivity numbers on a spreadsheet. 

At the end of the day, building belonging is really about recognizing your employees as unique individuals and treating them, their skills, and their time with respect. And that’s good advice in general, not just for imparting a sense of purpose within your organization! Whether it’s in work or life, when you treat people with respect and purpose, they notice – and the whole business benefits.

Interested in learning more ways to improve your organizational culture? Check out PerkSpot’s five focus areas for a better workplace!

 

H-E-B Helps Employees Save When They Need It Most

H-E-B needed a benefit that satisfied the needs of their entire workforce, made up of nearly 120,000 employees. “We have a lot of single parents and employees on a budget, so we’re always trying to see how we can better serve them,” said Lupe Melendez, the Benefits and Health and Wellness Advisor of H-E-B. That’s where PerkSpot stepped in. After partnering with H-E-B in 2016,  all employees are able to save with thousands of exclusive savings. 

How Does PerkSpot Support H-E-B? 

When asked why H-E-B was looking to make the switch from their previous discounts provider to PerkSpot, Lupe Melendez said, “H-E-B was looking for someone who was seamless, provided various resources, and was easy for our Partners to navigate, a one stop shop.”

With PerkSpot, there’s not much required from an HR director or benefits manager. A dedicated client success manager sends regular reports detailing employee savings, program participation, and more. Additionally, marketing materials are sent throughout the year. By highlighting seasonal savings, employees can make the most of their discount program!

“What we love most is that we don’t have to do a lot of manual entries. I love the fact that PerkSpot handles all of the logistics for us and we don’t have to continuously respond to various vendors who constantly call or email. PerkSpot gets back to you.”

How Did Employees Save During Difficult Times? 

As a grocery store during the Covid-19 pandemic, leaders at H-E-B’s corporate offices quickly realized how thinly stretched their time would be. With important discussions at hand, leaders from over 300 stores became busy fast with store management. With such a strong focus on this, PerkSpot’s relationship with H-E-B became crucial. 

PerkSpot doubled down on efforts to find the most relevant savings for employees. In turn, the efforts helped those who were strongly impacted by the pandemic to save time and money where they needed it most.

Check out other savings stories from some of PerkSpot’s partners. 

Interested in joining the hundreds of companies helping their employees save with unmatched discounts? Schedule a demo today to get started! 

Why You Need Voluntary Benefits

girl at computer voluntary benefitsEmployee benefits are, by their very nature, a highly personal thing. Few things are more important than having reliable health and vision benefits, for instance, across a huge range of varied personal situations. That’s why it’s critical that any competitive benefits package allows for meaningful customization for the things that matter, so employees can opt-in towards retirement, time-off, or whatever else is important to them. In other words – you need a benefits structure that works around the unique needs of your unique employees!

Ideally, your voluntary benefits should be more than just “skin deep”.  The kind of benefits program that attracts top talent is the kind that offers meaningful solutions to major hurdles experienced by your employees – like, for instance, providing financial well-being tools such as financial education resources or 401k guidance as part of an employee benefits package. It makes a huge difference to the growing number of employees concerned about their financial health. But even something as simple as separate voluntary benefits for commuters and motorists getting to the office can make a big difference in the positive cultural impact of your program.

Productivity, Loyalty, and Voluntary Benefits

Studies show consistently that incentive programs have a strong positive impact on productivity and loyalty. For example, a recent Incentive Research Foundation study indicated that a well-run incentive program can improve loyalty by up to 44%, showing that employees want to be recognized as individuals for their work. Providing voluntary benefits functions just the same; when employees feel like their efforts are being recognized and rewarded on an individual basis, it acts as a strong productivity driver. That’s because personalizing your benefits demonstrates that you care about your employees – and there’s nothing that ensures employee loyalty more strongly than showing you’re loyal to them right back. 

From parking vouchers to cutting-edge telehealth benefits, giving employees a comprehensive and customizable benefits suite is among the top ways to stand out from competitors and attract fiercely competitive best-in-class talent. That’s how PerkSpot helps you build loyalty and reduce turnover; providing your employees with discounts tailored around their interests. Through the hundreds of national brands who work with us, PerkSpot is able to selectively highlight the programs and discounts most applicable to individual employees; whether it’s a frequent traveler in need of cheaper car rentals or an amateur gardener looking for new tools, we’ve got the deals to help your employees save on the things that matter to them. That’s why PerkSpot is such a powerful employee productivity driver.

The Value of Personalization

When you recognize your employees as individuals and format your programs around individual needs, it never goes unnoticed. In many cases, even if the monetary benefit is the same, giving employees the choice to opt-in to relevant programs instead of a “one-size-fits-all” approach improves productivity and loyalty metrics. As far as benefits go, it pays to realize that one size does not fit all; and the more you can provide employees with benefits that match their individual needs, the happier they’ll be. That’s what makes PerkSpot different; our wide range of discounts has something for everyone, no matter how unique. Catering to that uniqueness is our priority.

Interested in learning more about the benefits of a customized discount program? Request a demo for a free overview of how PerkSpot can help your organization!

Meet PerkSpot’s 2022 Internship Program

With the summer coming to a close, we are celebrating the success of the internship class over the past year. From leading projects to participating in training and skill buildings, the interns were fully immersed in what a career at PerkSpot looks like. Not only that, but with a variety of different backgrounds and experiences, our interns spread out across multiple teams ranging from sales to engineering. 

We Aim High

Each of the interns exceeded their manager’s expectations while participating in projects and taking ownership of their responsibilities. Unlike other internships, our program is dedicated to providing real value during the duration of their time with PerkSpot. 

Week by Week Timeline

Managers created an overall framework to get each intern’s project done and achieve their goals. In doing so, this allowed them to get the experience that was relevant to their major while exploring their interests with real life examples and tools.

Team Support

Intern’s were challenged with a larger sized project for the majority of their program. In an effort to build relationships amongst our interns, we created a friendly atmosphere with someone to lean on for advice or provide support throughout the process! 

Skill Building Days 

As part of the internship, we dedicated a full day to building useful skills in the workplace, like DISC assessments, mental health and ways to avoid burnout, time management, giving and accepting feedback, and many more. 

We Stay Humble 

Our humble beginnings remind us that there is no job too big or too small when it comes to the success of our team. Therefore, our interns involvement with every project with had an impact, no matter the size. We’re beyond grateful for each and every one of their contributions! 

We Value People 

People, be they employees, users, clients, or merchants, are at the center of everything we do and it’s our goal to serve them as best we can. As part of the intern’s time, they planned a company-wide event for all PerkSpotters to attend. Based on superlatives, the intern’s had everyone submit their votes for a variety of categories. It was an exciting way to recognize and get to know the great PerkSpotters of the company. 

We Have Fun

We held an after work event at the office along with a company-wide picnic in downtown Chicago to celebrate an exciting summer and the great work of each of the interns. It was a great time getting together and having some fun! 

Check out some of our favorite memories from the summer below!

Thanks again to our amazing interns,

  • Arthur Hartnett, Sales Trainer Intern 
  • Twinkle Patel, Quality Assurance Intern 
  • Jake Rogers, Software Engineer Intern 
  • Anthony Hanna, Sales Operations Intern
  • Kevin Cooke, Business Intelligence Intern

Are you interested in an internship with PerkSpot in the future? Stay tuned for our open positions on our careers page. Check out our other open roles in the meantime! 

 

 

4 Reasons Behind High Turnover Rates (And How to Solve Them)

What does a business need to be successful? Some would say producing best in class, appealing products; others would say top quality customer service. Both factors are undeniably necessary, but for bigger businesses, there’s one metric of success that’s even more important: your employees. And just anyone’s butt in the chair won’t cut it. At the top levels, you need hard-working, committed staff that will help you advance your goals. Feel like you’ve got a fantastic team? Great – but there is another challenge that you’ll need to overcome. If you’ve got the best staff, you want to ensure they stick around, which means keeping turnover down.

If your voluntary turnover is high, it shows that staff aren’t happy with their working situation. There are lots of reasons why you’d want to keep voluntary turnover on the decline – for one, the cost of replacing an employee ranges from one-half to two times the employee’s salary. But how can you keep turnover levels low? The following four steps will help you keep your workers happy and content. 

Image sourced from Quantumworkplace.com

1. Poor Management 

Looking for one of the top causes of workers leaving their jobs? You’d be hard pushed to beat poor management. The best team leaders can inspire their teams to work harder while utilizing the unique skills of different members. The worst leaders do the opposite.

You might want to consider new leadership if you’re encountering the following issues:

  • Unmotivated employees
  • Lack of cohesion between teams
  • Burnt out employees.
  • Leaders setting poor standards

These are just a few examples of bad management. These practices will only cause you harm and do little to help you retain employees. Don’t underestimate the importance of leadership in the workplace. If your current leaders aren’t up to scratch, find new ones.   

2. Not Enough Opportunities for Progression 

Most people don’t take on a job to stay in the same position forever. Employees want to advance and grow in their careers. If workers feel they aren’t getting enough opportunities to progress, they’ll turn over to go elsewhere. Instead, you’ll want staff to feel they have a clear path to climbing the career ladder. You could consider a talent management strategy.

It means creating a culture of development. In other words, the idea of development and progression should be an intrinsic part of your organization. Try to offer continuous education throughout every layer of your business. Even those at the top still have room to learn more. Those at the bottom will be keen to grow their skill sets and advance. So for their sakes, it’s best to make learning materials easy to access, mobile or otherwise!

3. Hiring Externally 

rapid turnover firing hiring

Image sourced from Unsplash

One pitfall a lot of businesses fall into is only offering high-level roles externally. There’s a clear logic to hiring externally; you can choose from a larger pool of candidates. But reliance on external recruitment can have a major impact on employee morale, especially for critical mid-level managerial and executive positions; morale impacts that translate directly into higher turnover.

Put yourselves in the shoes of an employee for a moment. You’ve devoted long hours and shown commitment to your organization. But when the opportunity for a promotion crops up, you’re overlooked in favor of an external hire. In this instance, you probably won’t want to stick around much longer. 

Ultimately, if employees are putting in the effort, they should have the opportunity for a promotion.    

4. Recognize Your Employees 

A little recognition goes a long way. A contributing factor to high turnover rates is a failure to show appreciation for the efforts of your workers. Obviously, you don’t want to be gushing praise constantly. But when teams or individual workers do well, you should let them know.

Recognition can take many forms. It could mean setting up an employee of the month scheme. Using a conference calling system, you can announce each month’s winner in front of the team. This is a great way of showing recognition while building a healthy sense of rivalry between teams.

If you want to go the extra step, you could set up a discount program for the highest performers. The more recognition and feedback you offer to your employees, the more valued they will feel. 

Employee Satisfaction Is Key  

happy employees high five

Image sourced from Unsplash

There are some areas in business that are just common sense – like retaining good employees.

Some employee turnover is natural. People don’t stay in the same position forever; they eventually move on to new opportunities. But if voluntary turnover levels are high, you should be more worried. If your organization isn’t providing a positive environment for your workers, it reflects badly on you.

Start by asking yourself, ‘why are people leaving?’. Is there a problem with management, or perhaps you’re failing to provide a route for your employees to progress? You can’t just click your fingers and make your workers happy. As shown here, retaining workers takes commitment.

But if you look to the roots of the problem and work to find a solution, you’ll foster a much happier workforce. So, make sure you’ve on top of your turnover rate!

 

This contributor post was written by Jenna BunnellSenior Content Marketing Manager at Dialpad.

Dialpad is an AI-incorporated cloud-hosted call center platforms that provides valuable call details for business owners and sales representatives. Jenna is driven and passionate about communicating a brand’s design sensibility and visualizing how content can be presented in creative and comprehensive ways. Jenna Bunnell also published articles for domains such as SME News and Together Platform.