How to manage attrition levels

One of the biggest costs for most employers in today’s market place is recruitment of quality staff. In order to reduce this cost every organisation should have in place ‘staff retention action plans’. To achieve this detailed trend analysis will be required specifically looking at:

The time line – at what point in a career do people want to move on
What is the leavers profile – age range – position – lifestyle - ambitions
Exit interviews – detailed questioning of the employees reasons for leaving (not by a line manager)
Is there a particular time of year when attrition levels are high
What is the skills base of the leaver and how did this match their role
Identify a profile of employees who stay for more than two years

From this analysis organisations can:

Introduce career planning and coaching before a valued employee thinks of moving on
Review values and culture of organisation to improve environment
Crank up recruitment plans when required in preparation for any seasonal factors
Review recruitment process to ensure that the right skills base is being recruited and match to profiles of employees who add value to the organisation.

Finding the right person is less than easy and many organisations forget that the process of recruitment involves selling the organisation to the prospective employee.

What benefits will the employee get from working for the organisation? Surprisingly, money is actually way down the priority list for many people once they can cover what they need to live. Martin Seligman author of Authentic Happiness writes “Law is now the most highly paid profession in America, having surpassed medicine during the 1990s. Yet the major New York law firms now spend more on retention than on recruitment, as their young associates – and even partners – are leaving in droves for work that makes them happier.”

Seligman goes on to explain that people are most happy when they have a calling or vocation - something to do that provides gratification for its own sake. This gratification can come from any type of task if it is viewed as being valued by an individual or an organisation. For example, answering call after call in a busy call centre may seem repetitive and valueless to an employee. If the task can be reframed to focus on the assistance and quality service which is viewed as valuable by the customer and organisation, the sense of gratification will become important to the employee and thus happiness will ensue.