Making sure your company has the greatest staff available is critical for long-term success. Employers frequently believe that spending in the recruitment stage is the most important way to do this. However, you must ensure that talented employees are retained for extended periods of time. When a large number of employees leave and new ones arrive, morale and revenues suffer. This is where the term “staff turnover” comes into play, but what precisely is it? We’ll examine what this phrase entails and how it affects both employees and business owners.
What is Turnover in Business?
Businesses in the UK are probably already familiar with the phrase turnover, which refers to the amount of money invested in a specific business rather than the net profit.
However, it is also used to express another essential aspect: personnel turnover.
What is Staff Turnover?
Employees leave organisations for a variety of reasons, some of which are voluntarily and others of which are not. These reasons can include resigning, retiring, getting laid off, or being fired. Staff turnover refers to the measurement of changes in staffing and the numbers involved over a specific time period.
Calculating, monitoring, evaluating, and comprehending worker turnover is a critical component of the HR function. Data and information are used in workforce planning and management, such as recruitment, staff retention techniques, employee rewards, and employee and management development.
Turnover costs can have a large negative influence on an organization’s performance; nevertheless, employee turnover is not necessarily a bad thing for businesses; in fact, some sorts of employee turnover are desirable. It is sometimes an opportunity for organisations to bring in “fresh blood” with new ideas and perspectives to help the organisation expand and thrive.
What is Staff turnover Rate?
The staff turnover rate is a measure of how many employees leave a company and is expressed as a percentage of the total number of employees that have left the business within a given time period.
In these estimates, four types of staff turnover are commonly accounted for:
- Voluntary turnover: Voluntary turnover occurs when an employee leaves an organisation of their choosing; they give their notice and work their notice period before leaving.
- Retirement: This is a sort of voluntary turnover that occurs when an employee leaves after working for an organisation for some time and decides that they have reached an age where they no longer wish to work.
- Involuntary turnover: Involuntary turnover occurs when a company asks an employee to quit. This could be through redundancy or dismissal.
- Internal turnover: When an employee or employees transfer or are relocated from one team, department, or division within an organisation to another inside the same organisation, this is referred to as staff turnover.
The reasons why businesses gather and use this data differ, but doing so allows them to discover why it is happening and forecast and control it.
If an organisation can identify patterns in its staff turnover data, it can begin to implement procedures and strategies, such as exit interviews, staff surveys, and recruitment practise analysis, to help identify the causes of its staff turnover and make adjustments to its people strategies to help improve the situation.
There are several costs connected with employees leaving their jobs. The obvious ones are time and money spent on replacing employees and covering their tasks. It is calculated that replacing an employee costs 50% of their income. There is also a loss of experienced or skilled employees.
How Can You Calculate Staff Turnover?
It is common practise to track employee turnover by year. If you want to see how your employee turnover is performing, use the easy math below:
- Determine the annual average number of employees. Add the number of employees at the start of the year and the number of employees at the end of the year to do this. To calculate the average, divide this amount by two.
- Now divide the total number of yearly leavers by the average number of employees.
- Multiply this figure by 100.
Your annual staff turnover as a percentage is the solution. In 2016, the average total turnover rate was 18%, so you should compare your personnel turnover rate to this figure. Another wonderful alternative is to try to benchmark this statistic against those of similar businesses where possible to determine whether your level of turnover is appropriate for your sector.
What is a Low Staff Turnover?
A low staff turnover rate suggests that very few employees depart an organisation each year. While this appears to be a good thing, there are some repercussions for the workforce. If you’re advancing to management or working in human resources, it’s critical to comprehend these implications and assess patterns. A company’s low turnover rates can be caused by a variety of factors.
What is a High Staff Turnover?
A high staff turnover rate suggests that many employees leave each year. This may appear to be a bad comment on management, but the truth may be more complicated.
What are the Main Causes of Staff Turnover?
As previously said, high employee turnover affects both your time and money, but it may also have a significant influence on worker morale and productivity, as well as your employer reputation. If you are having excessive worker turnover, you should first examine what is going on within your company.
The following are the primary causes of employee turnover:
#1. A lack of development or growth opportunities
Good employees want to know that they can advance their careers and advance their talents within your company. If you don’t prioritise, or even offer, staff development and progress, people will begin to believe that there aren’t enough opportunities in your company. This will cause them to turn elsewhere for an opportunity to better their prospects.
#2. Lack of acknowledgement or reward
Nobody wants to feel as if they are working hard for little reward. Employees who receive little gratitude or thanks for their contributions should not be expected to stay. There are plenty of other fish in the sea, and your staff will be curious to see if they can earn the credit they deserve elsewhere.
#3. Workload overload
Workloads can be affected by a variety of factors, such as if you had a very busy period and gained more business, or perhaps some employees quit, requiring the remaining staff to pick up extra jobs or even work longer hours. Overworked individuals will look for new opportunities with organisations that appreciate the value of work/life balance if this continues without any benefits or signals of improvement.
#4. Negative company culture
We spend so much of our time at work that it’s critical that we enjoy it. Employees who are unhappy with their company’s culture and do not feel like they have developed a relationship with their coworkers are more likely to be unproductive, disengaged, and ultimately leave.
#5. Employees don’t get on with their bosses
If employees under a specific management have more problems or leave more frequently, it indicates a very specific area of concern.
Managers have a significant impact on the everyday lives of individuals who report to them, but at the end of the day, they are still people. Managers who are left alone and unskilled might cause major problems farther down the chain if they are not properly taught.
How Do You Reduce Staff Turnover?
Rising staff turnover frequently becomes a vicious spiral, as low morale encourages more workers to quit or consider leaving, which lowers the morale of those who remain, and so on. There are practical methods that a company can take to limit workforce turnover and avoid the costs that come with it.
They are as follows:
#1. Listen to staff and act on their suggestions.
You can’t manage or address a problem if you don’t know what it is. Receiving clear and frequent feedback from employees ensures that you are aware of any problems as soon as they develop and can provide a remedy before they worsen.
Employees may find it challenging to be honest about their concerns in front of a corporate leader or HR member. We recommend locating a private pulse survey instrument that allows you to automatically check-in and follow up with your staff at predetermined intervals. This will allow you to give your staff a voice and stay on top of how they feel about the company. It implies that if any employees have any issues or concerns, you’ll be able to identify them early and make the necessary modifications to improve their time at work. Employees that are happy are more likely to stay. Therefore, this will eventually help to reduce worker turnover.
#2. Improve your hiring procedure.
One critical aspect of lowering staff turnover is to ensure that you are hiring the correct people for the job in the first place. Of course, you want to hire people who have the proper abilities for the job, but you also want to make sure they share your company’s values and are a good cultural match. Employees who do not fit your company’s culture are unlikely to stick around.
#3. Ensure that your personnel feel appreciated.
Employees will leave a company if they do not believe their efforts are being recognised or rewarded – your employees require encouragement and recognition. When employees perform well, you must demonstrate your appreciation.
This does not have to come from above; it is better when it is offered by the entire team, ensuring that all employees receive a regular boost.
#4. Provide opportunities for professional development
Professional growth does not have to be prohibitively expensive. It can be as basic as allowing employees to share their knowledge on the job through training sessions, presentations, or mentoring others. If you wish to provide more formal development, you can provide a learning budget to go towards courses that your staff are interested in, encourage conference participation, or set up external training.
This will not only help them with their day-to-day work but will also allow them to obtain other skills that will help them advance in their careers. This suggests people not only believe they are contributing to the role, but they are also benefiting from it.
#5. Ensure a good work-life balance
Assist your staff in having fun both at work and outside of work. Allow for flexible working schedules, such as variable start and finish times or the ability for employees to work from home. By demonstrating that you care about their personal priorities, you demonstrate that you trust them and want them to be happy in all aspects of their lives, which will eventually lead to their being happier at work.
Is Staff Turnover Good or Bad?
When low-performing individuals leave an organisation, functional turnover happens, which can prevent your organisation from having to make difficult decisions and, in many cases, boosts productivity levels. Dysfunctional turnover, on the other hand, is detrimental to your company.
What is the UK Average Staff Turnover?
It is approximately 15%. According to statistics, the overall average staff turnover rate in the UK is roughly 15%-17%; however, an XpertHR survey found that voluntary worker turnover in 2020 was 12.4% (1 in 8), a one percentage point rise from 2019.
Is 30% Staff Turnover Bad?
What is the average rate of employee turnover? According to the SHRM Benchmarking Human Capital Report, the average yearly staff turnover rate, including both voluntary and involuntary turnover, was 30%, and less than half of organisations had a succession plan in place, whether formal or informal.
What is a High Turnover of Staff UK?
Because it varies on the business, there are no hard and fast guidelines for assessing if your rate is high or low. However, as a general guideline, consider the following: Low turnover rate: less than 15%, which is the national average. High turnover rate: more than the national average of 15%.
Why Reduce Employee Turnover?
Turnover is a concern for businesses since it can result in lost productivity, increased recruitment and training costs, and worse morale among remaining employees. Finally, high turnover rates can harm organisations by making it difficult to attract and retain outstanding staff.
Conclusion
The percentage of employees who leave your company during a given time period is referred to as staff turnover.
It is critical to evaluate and monitor your personnel turnover because if it is very high, it indicates that it is time to make some adjustments in your organisation. A high personnel turnover costs money and harms morale, but it can also stymie company growth and success.
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