Organizations have a core group of people at the top who seldom leave. If they do it is a planned retirement. The turnover rate for the top 10 to 30% of an organization is generally quite low if not non-existent. The turnover rate goes up as you go down in the hierarchy of the organization. The turnover rate is always the highest at the bottom; specifically the first 60 days of employment.
It is this churning at the bottom which provides a huge opportunity
Three of the common root causes of this turnover are:
- Hiring someone who does not meet the target employee criteria
- A misunderstanding of the organization or job by the new employee
- The employee not seeing the long term opportunity with the organization
If you review these items, there is an opportunity to fix each of them. The organization must get better at selecting the right person and not spending time and money on the wrong person. Before hiring, the organization must make sure the candidate fully understands reality. Many times this misunderstanding will play out repeatedly. This is a good source of information about what is not being covered appropriately.
Lastly, but most importantly, the employees should be very clear about what long term opportunities exist. The organization should clearly communicate how they can align themselves with these opportunities. Lastly, what the employees must do to move forward.
The recovered costs based in wasted time, money and effort are enormous
Let’s look at #3 a little closer. I did some work for a company who had this issue. When they did speak about long term opportunities it was left quite vague. They focused more on a potential pay raise after six months. The good people who you want to hire and retain want more, a lot more.
They want to hear about:
- The final destination job and any jobs in between
- What they must do in terms of training, experience and results
- The rewards once they arrive at the destination
The clearer the path, the better it is documented and the more you can provide examples of success – the better. The employee will want to speak to people who have arrived at the destination. The real value comes from these people saying the journey was well worth it.
Need help communicating the destination?
