Turnover is a lot of things—frustrating (or worrying) for managers, a bad omen for would-be hires, disruptive to the team, and expensive. It’s also—usually—preventable.
If you’re a numbers person, I can tell you that research by Boushey and Glynn (2012) suggests that replacing an employee can cost anywhere from a fraction of their salary to more than twice their salary, depending on the role. The figure “200%” is thrown around a lot, but that comes from estimates for senior, executive, or highly specialized positions—not the average employee.
Still, it’s not just money you need to spend in order to refill that role. It’s your time and your team’s time, especially if they’re taking over tasks to fill in gaps or helping train the new hire.
So, to put it bluntly, turnover stinks all around.
If people keep leaving your organization, it’s not “the market.” It’s not people being “greedy for more money.” It’s not “this younger generation not wanting to work.”
Let’s get into why people leave and what actually works for reducing turnover.
1. Stop guessing why it’s happening and actually ask.
Most large companies do exit interviews. Fewer seem to know what to do with the information they collect.
An exit interview is like the check engine light on your dashboard. You can keep driving and assume it’s nothing serious, but the smarter move is to find out what triggered it.
When conducting an exit interview, two things matter: asking the right questions and looking for patterns.
If you want insightful information, ask insightful questions. For example:
- What were the main deciding factors that led to your decision to leave?
- What would have changed your mind or what could we have done differently?
- What advice would you give to the person who will fill your role?
Every exit interview is one piece of a puzzle. Look for patterns. For example:
- Are the people who are leaving all working for the same manager or department?
- Are they generally expressing the same complaints?
- Are they newer employees? Their turnover might be linked to factors like insufficient training, unclear information—or, let’s be honest, misleading information—about what the role involved, lack of growth opportunities, or an unhealthy work culture.
- Are they long-standing employees? Their turnover might be linked to a lack of appreciation, an overwhelming workload, or having their feedback or opinions ignored.
2. Hire better, not faster.
Sometimes, bad hires can be traced to a bad hiring process. The biggest culprits are usually:
- Job descriptions that don’t match what the job actually entails
- Clichéd or useless interview questions (“What is your biggest weakness?” “Where do you see yourself five years from now?” “If you could be any tree, which would you be and why?”)
- Ineffective training or onboarding (or none at all)
This is where using pre-employment assessments can really make a difference.
- Aptitude assessments help you validate a person’s abilities and development areas.
- Personality and attitude assessments help you assess their fit and avoid “looked great on paper” disasters.
Some industry research suggests that pre-employment assessments are associated with lower turnover and better hiring satisfaction. For example, Aberdeen Group reported that companies using pre-hire assessments saw a 39% lower turnover rate among high-potential talent and were 36% more likely to be satisfied with new hires.
3. Fix the salary and the job.
First—and I can’t emphasize this enough—pay people fairly. Expecting professional-level work for an entry-level salary is unrealistic, frustrating, and a red flag so big, astronauts could probably see it from space. Ditto if you’re hiring someone for an entry-level role but expecting them to have years of experience, essentially eliminating most new graduates from the pool. And if a person is expected to “wear many hats”—in other words, do the work of three people—then their salary should reflect that.
If you genuinely can’t afford to pay someone based on market value or experience level, then strive to offer other meaningful incentives, such as learning opportunities, mentorship, more time off, a four-day workweek, or the option to work from home.
Second, don’t assume that people always leave because they want more money. A cutthroat culture, office politics, micromanagement, unreasonable workloads or work hours, or saying “we’re family” while treating people like that relative you only see at reunions can be driving forces too.
So if your retention strategy is, “Let’s throw more money at it,” then you’re not seeing the big picture.
4. Don’t onboard like it’s the 80s.
First impressions matter, and onboarding is where those impressions are either strengthened or burned to a crisp. I offer many tips in my blog, “Crafting a Fun—Yes, Fun—Onboarding Process,” but suffice to say that effective onboarding needs three general things:
- Clear expectations
- Regular check-ins
- Feedback on your onboarding approach
If you want your new team member to make an impact as early as possible, then you need to give them the time and prep work to do just that. Even if the person has 20+ years of experience, they still need to learn how things are done in your company.
5. Train your managers.
There’s a reason you keep hearing “People don’t leave companies—they leave managers.” It’s because a manager’s attitude and behavior can play a decisive role in determining whether a person stays or quits. For example, in our study on management’s role in turnover:
- 24% of people who are quitting their jobs in the near future report that they don’t have a good relationship with their manager.
- 40% say management doesn’t treat employees fairly.
- 53% say management fails to acknowledge or recognize hard work/achievements.
- 45% say helping employees succeed is not one of management’s priorities.
Bottom line: If your leaders can’t…
- Give feedback in a way that empowers people
- Show empathy
- Develop their team
…then don’t be surprised when you end up with a revolving door situation.
I would strongly suggest running your managers through a 360 program. You’ll learn what is really happening between managers and employees before those problems turn into resignation letters.
6. Create a workplace people don’t want to escape.
A friend of mine bragged about having foosball tables and televisions in the break room where he worked. They didn’t offer much solace, however, when he complained about excessive overtime hours a few months later.
While perks like these are great, I’ve discovered that what matters much more to people is:
- Feeling respected
- Having a voice
- Being treated as a valuable member of the team
- A company that cares about employee well-being
No amount of foosball tables or pizza parties can beat that. Why? Because these are the factors that keep employees engaged. And engaged employees are significantly less likely to leave.
A Few Parting Words of Wisdom
Turnover seldom happens out of the blue. It’s often predictable—and fixable—if you:
- Hire better (with assessments)
- Manage better
- Listen more
You may not eliminate turnover completely, but you’ll stop bleeding talent for avoidable reasons.