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Almost 17% of employees who quit, quit on their first day on the job. 🤯 Let's walk through the experience of an employee who quits early to identify the red flags your organization should avoid! We will call this new employee "Jim" for this blog's purposes.
If employee turnover is a problem, it's not necessarily a case of poor hiring practices or bad candidates. Before hunting for another batch of employees that might stick around, take a moment to review management practices, the overall climate of your work environment, and why employees might be leaving. When it comes to turnover, the problem may be coming from within...
Is talent valued and rewarded? The new hire, Jim, shadowed a brilliant salesperson who felt under-appreciated, underpaid and disheartened. Even if pay raises are not on the table, a little praise, regular recognition, and a thank you can go a long way in helping employees to feel valued.
Is credit given where it is due? Jim also encountered an employee who got away with stealing ideas and shirking responsibility. Not only was the new hire concerned about having his ideas stolen, but alarm bells also went off in his head about management's obliviousness to the problem.
Are employees encouraged and supported? When Jim shared an idea with another co-worker, the co-worker explained that management shoots down all ideas — immediately. It's crucial to encourage thinking and creativity, even if the ideas don't always materialize.
Is management receptive to feedback? When Jim's new boss asked him about his first day, they didn't really want an answer. Undeterred, the new hire told him the truth: people don't seem happy there. Jim's boss didn't want to hear it and promptly dismissed his concerns. Though management is accustomed to giving feedback, the value is dramatically increased when it flows both ways. Being open to feedback is vital to ensuring that employees are happy and engaged. Being closed to it could translate into high turnover and poor morale.
Would you stick around for a second day on the job if you discovered the problems Jim encountered?
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Turnover can seem like a natural matter of course in business, but it doesn't have to be. In many cases, you can save yourself the expense of losing an employee by taking a moment to reflect on the environment you provide. Building a strong, positive company culture isn't as difficult as it may seem, and there are countless tools and resources available to help.
Start building a stronger culture today — you may be surprised how quickly turnover improves.
