5 Myths To Employee Turnover and Simple Solutions To Keeping Who You Want

Aug. 4, 2010 - PRLog -- "Is it possible control turnover?" This is one of the most frequent questions posed by clients in all industries. My answer is always the same. First, the good news is that there are many ways to bring down your turnover figures. The bad news is that it isn’t the quickest of issues to resolve. So if you are currently facing this issue, you may not be able to achieve immediate results.  As with most development and growth issues, treating the symptom, in this case turnover, is only a temporary fix at best. To get positive, concrete and long-term results requires time spent identifying the causal factors of the symptom.

Myth # 1-Turnover Is About The People Who Are Leaving
Solution:  Assess Your Corporate Culture
Turnover is not as much about the people leaving as it is about the organization. The organization is the people who stay when someone leaves and their reactions to the turnover. What does it sound like when people leave your organization? "Aw, we're better off without them," or "They were always so much trouble anyway." Or how about, "I knew this was coming but I didn't say anything. What good would it have done?" On the other hand how many times do you hear, "Gee, I wonder what we might have done differently to keep Joe. He was such a good employee." Or, "I'm sure glad Jane told me Joe was unhappy. Now maybe I can talk to him and change his mind about leaving."

These reactions reflect the organization and its culture. It has been my experience that organizations with high turnover are organizations that have specific profiles which include unclear structures, poorly defined job responsibilities, different rules for different people, and strained relationships among and between employees and management. Organizations with this kind of unhealthy profile also tend to have high turnover of 'good' people; people they would like to keep. Yet, they often react to this turnover with denial, such as the remarks above or the thinking that 'things will get better'.

The saying 'if you're not with us, you're against us' is often true in this kind of unhealthy organizational culture. If employees find themselves against a 'wall' when they go against the existing culture, most will eventually leave. My experience shows that the organization is immune to the prodding of isolated individuals, who ultimately resign themselves to using their energy and creativity outside the workplace. In this case, if the employee loses, whether he goes or stays, so does the organization.

Because turnover is more about the organization than the employee, decreasing turnover requires some action on the part of the organization. Therefore, when someone is leaving your organization, ask yourself these questions:

1.   Is this person's leaving a surprise?
2.   Do we have a clear system that keeps us and our employees informed and accountable?
3.   Do we want this person to stay?
4.   Has everything been done to keep him?
5.   What value does this person bring to our organization?

If the answers to any of the above are no or I don't know, then you can ask yourself, “What can I learn from this that will help our turnover situation in the future?“


Myth # 2-Recruitment and Turnover Are Two Different Things
Solution: “Invite” People Who Fit Within Your Culture
When people leave, do you ever stop to think about why or how you hired them in the first place? You should. One common myth in organizations is that turnover and recruitment are two different functions and are therefore, approached separately. There is, in fact, a causal relationship. If your organization is very clear about the kind of culture you want to work in and you communicate that clearly to your employees and have systems in place to ensure that this culture is upheld and developed, it will show up in the recruiting/hiring process. The result will be that you actually 'invite' the kind of people who you want to work with to be part of your organization. Right from the beginning they feel a shared sense of what is significant and begin to take ownership for their future and that of your organization. If you do not clearly define your organization and where you want it to go, how can you expect to hire people aligned with this direction and purpose? Recruiting people without a specific goal/purpose they can be part of (other than a job description) often results in turnover because people have no real reason to stay.

Myth # 3- Turnover Is Always A Bad Thing
Solution:  Allow Those That Don’t Fit To Leave
On the contrary, turnover can be a good thing. Interestingly, during most organizational change, turnover increases. Why? Because organizational change at its best means growth. When this happens clear structures and goals are created, consistent rules of the game are established, and roles and responsibilities are clarified. For some people, this is not good. All of this clarity and light is just too bright for them. These people prefer to exist in organizations where everything is not so clear and they can spend a lot of their time complaining and avoiding work. Once they realize that the healthy changes are there to stay and things will not go back to the way they were, they leave on their own. This is positive turnover because the 'new' and changed organization doesn't need this type of employee.

Myth # 4- Staff Turnover Can Exist Without Management Turnover
Solution:  Look At Total Corporate Turnover
I always find it interesting when clients say that they have problems with either staff or management turnover. If you have problems with one, whether you admit it or not, you have problems with the other. If you only have high turnover of staff, then you need to ask yourself, what is my management team doing to help create this movement (especially if these are people you would have been better off keeping). Maybe you need to look at your management team and make some changes there. Or, if you have high management turnover, this is definitely affecting your staff and their performance, whether they are leaving or not. Look at the movement from a larger perspective--one that involves all of your employees.

Myth # 5-You Just Can't Get 'Good' People Anymore
Solution:  Treat Employees As An Integral Part of The Organization
Nobody wants to work anymore, right? Some corporate employees aren’t looking for a career, they just want to do their work and get their paycheck, right?  People will give you what you expect of them. My experience has been that the way you see your staff determines to a large extent, the way they respond. People who are considered "staff" rarely create a career out of an entry-level position. However, people who are given the opportunity to see themselves differently and be an integral part of an organization's culture will contribute invaluable ideas to your organization. Some will remain in staff positions, others will become part of management, and a few others will become executives.
Turnover is as much about a feeling of being undervalued as it is about a lack of motivation. If your hiring salary is correct for industry standards, money is not necessarily the motivator here. Something else has to be present for people to want to work for your organization. Employees may have their basic needs met by working for you, but do they see a future for themselves and the organization and are they aligned with that? Do you, as an organization, make it clear that by working for you there is somewhere to go, either personally or professionally?

Instead of simply hiring, recruit people who will become the future of your organization. The bottom line in controlling turnover is simple, but not easy. If you want to have "good" people working for you, become a "good" organization to work for.

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