A lot has been written about why employees quit, with managers taking a brunt of the blame. But, little has been discussed about the when of turnover. Many assume that managers can’t do much about the timing of attrition. But, a few specific steps can greatly influence attrition.
The key is knowing when employees are the most at risk of leaving. Then, managers can take preemptive steps to lower employee turnover. Let’s dive into the whens of attrition and the actions that help to prevent it.
Attrition hurts.
The cost of replacing an employee could be between 50% to 250% of their annual salary depending on skill-levels and seniority.
Research by CEB states that a lack of future opportunities is the top reason for employee attrition. This often happens during specific triggers that cause employees to evaluate how they are doing compared to others in their peer group or with where they expected to be in the life journey at a particular point in time.
Common Career-Risk Triggers That Increase Attrition Rates
Work Anniversaries are a time to reflect on where one’s career is going. As a result, job-search activity tends to spike by 6%-9% around work anniversaries.
Birthdays, especially milestone years like 40/50, seem to trigger another spike of about 12%. Other events also influence attrition, such as school or college class reunions.
Career-risk triggers include:- Birthdays
- Work anniversaries
- Anniversaries in their current role
- Changes in manager or individual responsibilities
- Major gatherings of friends or family such as class reunions, family reunions, etc
This is another reason why providing customized celebrations of an employee’s work anniversaries can show them they are appreciated.
Don’t settle for giving the same generic pin or certificate to everyone.
Check out how the Thanks platform provides a way to celebrate with customizable videos and yearbooks.Early Warning Signals of Employee Attrition:
Technology today can help organizations look for early signals on whether their top talent is on the lookout for a change. Disengagement manifests in several ways. One of the most notable signs is in a drop in collaboration or participation in conversations revolving around appreciation and recognition of others.
Managers can use smart platforms that can be configured to detect any change in communication patterns and help run interventions. A one on one with the immediate supervisor or even with senior management can impact and assuage the employee’s concerns about their future.
Pre-empting Employee Attrition:
Many managers wonder whether or not their organization should try to pre-empt possible attrition.
Did you know?
Research seems to indicate that active preemptive intervention is the way to go.
But how?
Harvard Business Review highlighted companies that use internal recruiting to identify and notify employees of new opportunities within the company. As a result, these employers have seen more employees moving within the organization and a decrease in total attrition.
The alternative is to plan for a counteroffer when the employee announces an intent to leave.
But, did you know?
Research data suggests that 50% of the employees who accept a counteroffer eventually leave.
Thus, companies are far better off running active interventions to retain their top talent and reduce attrition.
Remember, it is human nature to focus more on the negatives than the positives. In the daily grind of deadlines, impossible-sounding project goals, heated planning meetings, budget standoffs – employees tend to forget the good times they had with the same colleagues they might be having friction with.
Consider creating a video memoir of the “good times” around milestone dates helps employees to “relive” their journey in a positive frame of mind.
Managers can take other proactive measures including:
- Skip-level interviews
- HR monitored one-on-one with supervisors with a special focus on discussing the future of the employee
- Actively internally cold calling employees who are identified as a flight risk with offers on internal job postings.
Conclusion
Proactive intervention can and does make a difference with flight-risk employees when it’s sincere and early enough to refocus the employee on the positives of their job. But, later reactive steps are often too late to turn an employee away from leaving.
About Thanks
Thanks is a leading provider of a recognition-based platform that increases communication, builds teamwork, and makes recognition a part of company culture. Fast, easy and simple Thanks makes it easy to bring data-driven employee recognition to your entire organization. O.C. Tanner purchased the Thanks platform in 2019 to fulfill the recognition needs of smaller businesses.
Thanks customers benefit from the same decades of research in employee motivation and company culture that O.C. Tanner enterprise clients enjoy, but in a product that is geared for fast, easy and simple deployment. Whether you’re starting a recognition program or improving and expanding on what you already have, Thanks has everything you need to engage your people with effective, scalable recognition. Thanks is a subsidiary of OC Tanner.