Employee turnover imposes steep costs on a company. Productivity drops as existing staff scramble to cover a missing employee’s job duties, while hiring managers neglect their own day to day tasks to tackle the candidate search process once again. Motivation may fall as uncertainty sets in. And if the wrong candidate is hired, the process may start all over again in just a few months.
While some employee turnover is a fact of life, companies can do much to reduce their turnover rates and develop a stable, motivated, and productive workforce. Here are three steps your company can take to improve retention:
1. Define the role clearly.
Revising job descriptions can go a long way toward attracting the right candidates and ensuring a better hire who is more likely to stay with the company in the long term. Make sure job descriptions are up to date, that they state the duties and requirements of the job clearly, and that they reflect what the candidate will actually be asked to do on a daily basis. Talk to supervisors and employees who have worked in the open position or on the same team.
2. Know your company’s culture. Finding candidates with the right skills and letting them know what the job requires is key to productivity and retention. It’s tough to keep a worker who can’t do the job or who is asked to do something very different from the job they thought they applied for. But finding a worker who offers the right cultural “fit” is essential as well. When employees mesh well with your current staff, do their best work in ways that match your company’s systems, and see their values align with those of the company, they’re happy to come to work every day – and far less likely to leave.
3. Work with a recruiter. Your staffing firm specializes in helping client companies reduce turnover rates by finding candidates who offer the best possible “fit” for each job posted. Your recruiter can help you fine-tune job descriptions, create a better cultural fit, and reduce the time spent on hiring by pre-screening candidates before recommending them to your hiring managers.
At THE RIGHT STAFF, our experienced recruiters can help you improve recruiting and retention rates by matching your company to talent that offers a great “fit.” Contact us today in the Twin Cities to learn more.
