Across the UK, the average employee turnover rate is 15%. The figure changes from industry to industry, but some are shockingly high. Sales and marketing staff sit at 31%, administration is almost 20%, and the hospitality sector is among the highest. Some high turnover is natural as people move onto other opportunities, or certain sectors see busy periods at certain times of the year.
But some factors that affect staff turnover can be improved, saving your company money and time, instead of using resources to train up new staff who are inevitably going to leave. The key? Clear, open communication. Here’s how it can help with your staff retention.
Feedback
People like to be acknowledged for their work. When overseeing multiple venues with potentially dozens of staff at each, it can be easy to forget to praise staff. You’re likely focussing on more pressing matters, but your employees might feel as though you’ve forgotten about them. With 66% of employees saying they would quit if they felt underappreciated, it might be time to give your staff some much deserved praise.
Employees don’t like to feel unheard. Most of your staff will have an opinion on anything new that affects them. It’s essential to listen to those who are experiencing changes first hand and answer any queries or complaints, putting staff at ease. Statistics show that employees who are unsatisfied with their superiors think they don’t make an effort to listen to their employees. Simply listening to feedback could quash this problem and potentially lead to greater staff retention.
Keeping them in the loop
Managing multiple sites can be a handful, and implementing new changes across the sites can be difficult. Now we’re in our second lockdown, it’s imperative we have crystal clear communication across sites to ensure safety during the pandemic. 70% of employees feel overwhelmed because of broken communication methods and fragmented information, and 78% think communication should be a higher priority of their organisation.
Not knowing what you should be doing at work can be a source of stress for employees. Making it clear what is expected of your staff in the day-to-day can stop unnecessary stress, a huge reason for people leaving their jobs, which could lead to greater staff retention.
Unfortunately, there are some things we just can’t control. Students, for example, are quite likely to join certain industries during their studies, such as retail or hospitality, and plan to leave after graduating. But some of the problems that lead to such a high turnover of staff can be helped by simply improving communication between management and staff.
At this time, that might mean having a system in place to check in with staff who are furloughed. Or it might mean giving them a way to add their stamp onto company systems, with something as simple as an employee bio they can change as they wish. These small changes can make the biggest difference.
It can feel impossible to keep communications clear and prompt with staff when you have multiple sites, and staff can’t be sat checking their emails all day. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
The Inform People platform allows for clear and prompt communication with your staff. Covering everything from resource sharing to staff reviews, we provide you with the tools to ensure clear communication across sites. To find out more, get in touch with us via email.
