Managing Turnover

As I was contemplating the topic I would write about today, two things happened to lead me to what I will discuss.  The first thing that happened was receiving three calls in a row (the same day) from clients to very confidentially tell me they would like to start looking for something new.  In the four years that we have been in business, this has been very rare.  The second was opening up SHRM magazine and reading an article of managing turnover.  So there you have it – I was drawn to talk about managing turnover this month.

Over the past three years, corporate turnover has been low.  Many employers have not been overly concerned with turnover because they feel like there has been no place for employees to go and that the overall sense is that the employees should be happy to have a job in the first place.  I would caution you to not fall into this line of thinking.  Turnover should always be a concern.  According to CareerBuilder’s 2012 US Jobs forecast report, which was based on a survey conducted by Harris Interactive, a whopping 84% of employees said they planned to search for new jobs in 2012 and 2013.

Turnover measures the number of employees who have left as opposed to those who have stayed.  There are two types of turnover – voluntary (when an employee chooses to leave) and involuntary (when an employer initiates separation).  Both can affect your bottom line, but both can be managed. I would encourage you to not ignore these studies and to do what is needed to keep your MVP employees and manage the non-performers out the door.

For the MVP employees, make sure that you are doing quarterly or bi-annual reviews.  Waiting for a year end performance review is not enough for these superstars.  They need to be recognized for their achievements, but you also need to be on the lookout for signs of frustration, boredom or any other indicators that might lead to a voluntary separation.  When I conducted my midyear reviews and was able to hear some frustrations from some of my superstar employees and make some changes that eased the frustration, increased efficiency and have subsequently increased profits.

The non-performers can cause frustration to your MVP employees and need to be managed.  They need to know when and if they are failing to meet expectations and also told what the consequences will be if improvements are not made.  Non-performing employees, when held accountable, will often leave on their own.  However, if termination occurs, there should be no surprise when it comes.  No one likes to terminate a person.  I have had to do this and there was enough documentation and dialogue with this individual that when it came time to conduct an involuntary separation, she was not surprised and I felt good about my decision.

Your employees are the backbone of your organization and because of this they should be managed.  Don’t fall victim to unnecessary turnover.  Manage your staff with respect and set performance standards to keep everyone focused and excited about what they do.  Show the MVPs that you appreciate them by recognizing their hard work but also by striving to build the strongest team possible.

Have a great day today,

Carey