Even highly productive employees, at a certain point, consider turning in their resignations, anticipating a potential job opportunity that comes their way. High employee turnover rates leave organizations wondering about the crucial factors that make their staff quit or at least think about switching to other companies.

Reasons for employee turnover

The pandemic has only worsened the situation of employee turnover. A statement released in a Philippine Statistics Authority report showed that over 50 workers out of every 1000 chose to resign voluntarily.

The question here is why do employees quit? Several reasons can push employees to look for new jobs- the most common ones are higher compensation or career advancement. The reasons however depend on the nature of the workplace and business. Some employees leave the company due to burnout and poor work culture. According to people management platform provider Lattice, employee turnover occurs when employees voluntarily resign owing to several reasons including a hostile culture at the workplace.

The key role of talent management teams

Employee turnover can be handled by boosting a company's talent management strategy. Employers need to understand that talent management is not just about finding the right candidate for a job. This process is intense and requires a deep understanding of the ongoing business situation to retain the human resources. Let us discuss the key strategies that companies must implement to retain employees at the workplace.

Employee training and development

Employers should allocate financial resources toward upgrading employee skills and development, training, and employee performance as a key talent management strategy.  This is because employees who feel undervalued and unappreciated will often seek employment elsewhere. In addition, post-training transfer supports must be implemented to develop confidence for the employee in the workplace. New technology, instructional experience, and assessment tools should be implemented to facilitate better training.

Fostering a sense of purpose

Employees can become complacent and bored, which can lead to turnover. Employers need to talk with valuable employees about their potential career goals and offer a means to facilitate those goals within their company. The nature of the work itself generally emerges as the most vital job facet.  Employees often eventually want to work in a challenging environment with innovative ways to boost individual growth. It is also vital for employees to learn new skills in case a new position in the company becomes available which may offer an even greater sense of purpose.

Hiring the right employees

When it comes to recruiting for HR jobs, employers generally do not focus on selecting people with talent. Rather, HR managers tend to hire people who simply apply for the job. Thus, these managers end up with a workforce that feels their roles as employees are not worth long-term commitment and are demeaning. This is the key reason employee turnover is often high for minimum wage jobs, and companies tend to respond with strict procedure manuals on how their employees should perform on the job. Employers should avoid outdated rationales like “If I give this candidate a chance to make choices, he or she will use that freedom to make the wrong choices.”

Offer flexibility

Today’s employees wish for a flexible work-life balance that has a direct influence on their retention. Research conducted found that 76 percent of managers and 80 percent of employees indicated that flexible work arrangements had positive effects on retention. That means if a company is not offering employees flexibility around locations and work hours, they might easily leave the company for someone who will offer them these benefits.

Employee wellbeing

Companies need to facilitate employee wellbeing to have lesser employee turnover. HR managers need to encourage regular social events to boost employee health, mental wellbeing, and teamwork to reduce overall stress and burnout.