Excerpt from Magnet Culture’s, “Redefining Employee Retention: Embracing a New Approach to Regain Staffing Stability”.
For managers, what is on fire gets their attention, which is understandable. But while managers are doing the absolute best they can to stay afloat in this chaotic situation, staff continue to leave because they don’t feel managers truly care about them. We know managers care; many simply don’t have time to show it.
At this moment, staff at every level are overloaded, overwhelmed, overburdened, and over everything, so now’s a good time to stop and take a look at the situation from their perspective.
If you have any, review your company’s employee survey data. Take it seriously. But don’t rely on data that are only collected annually. It is critical to also check in regularly with staff and keep a current gauge of how they feel about their current situation.
To make this easy, it’s your turn to take a quick Retention Audit. Consider whether your team members would agree or disagree with the following ten statements right now. Not three months ago, but right now. Go!
How would STAFF score the following based on a 1 (Disagree) to 5 (Agree) scale right now?
____ 1. Our staff feel their managers are effectively communicating.
____ 2. Our staff feel our onboarding is effective.
____ 3. Our staff trust one another.
____ 4. Our staff feel their workloads are manageable.
____ 5. Our staff feel our managers listen to their team members.
____ 6. Our staff feel they are given flexibility with their schedules.
____ 7. Our staff feel their compensation is appropriate for their current role and responsibilities.
____ 8. Our staff feel their managers are adequately trained for their current leadership roles.
____ 9. Our staff feel advancement opportunities within the organization are accessible within a reasonable time frame.
____ 10. Our staff feel the organization’s technology (hardware & software) is sufficient for their needs.
Total Score: ____
How’d You Score?
Anything stand out as to why new hires and/or seasoned staff may be walking away?
Depending upon your role within the organization, some of these areas of the business are within your control and some are not. Executives must reassess compensation and technology, for example, while managers must work to understand and mitigate day-to-day frustrations. Don’t point fingers, just do what you can do.
What’s your total score from the ten questions?
If you scored mostly 4s and 5s, totaling 40 or more, you’re in a very good place compared to others. Or you may be an uber optimist who only sees the good from your seat and it may be time to talk to your people to hear how they are truly feeling.
If you scored a more realistic combination of scores totaling 39 or lower, at this point, you can either choose to work toward making the lowest 1-2 scores stronger, or you could try raising the middle scores higher if the low ones are out of reach at the moment. You can’t do it all at once, so now is the time to prioritize.
Quickly think about two items within your control that could be improved with minimal effort. Those are now your small-step priorities that can make a big difference with a little effort. And you likely already know how to fix them; they simply haven’t been given the attention they need.
Regular assessment like this quick audit, is an essential part of operationalizing turnover because our workforce will continue to evolve and leaders must stay connected to their people to successfully retain talent.
Dive deeper into today’s new staffing reality and strategies for executives and managers alike in Magnet Culture’s minibook, Redefining Employee Retention: Embracing a New Approach to Regain Staffing Stability. Download the free ebook from our Magnet Vault or email [email protected] to purchase physical copies.
Are you beyond frustrated employee turnover is devastating your bottom line? Let me guess…
- Current operations aren’t sustainable with high turnover
- Managers continue scrambling to fill shifts
- There’s no time to address the turnover problem
We used to throw around the term “workforce crisis” because we thought times were tough before the pandemic. We had no idea how bad it could get. It’s time to face the facts and plan for the inevitable employee churn we cannot eliminate. Operationalizing turnover allows organizations to take control and make realistic retention goals moving forward.
Cara Silletto, MBA, CSP, is a workforce thought leader, keynote speaker, and author of the book, Staying Power: Why Your Employees Leave & How to Keep Them Longer.
