High employee turnover poses a significant problem for small businesses.
Since they often lack the budget to cover the high costs of hiring a new employee, such companies have to employ tactics to stave off turnover.
In other words, small businesses need to change the way they engage their employees.
In this blog post, we’ll talk about the best tactics for preventing high employee turnover.
Improve Your Onboarding Process With Tech Solutions
Often, the root cause of turnover is poor onboarding.
Delivering an excellent onboarding experience enables employees to get fully integrated into their new position and using software solutions is a great way to do that.
If the onboarding process is inefficient, employees won’t understand all the aspects of their new position, leaving them unable to do their job correctly.
They won’t be able to complete critical tasks and will underperform their duties.
With time, they’ll become frustrated and quit.
However, by employing software, you’re delivering a guided, trackable onboarding experience.
That way, if an employee does leave, you won’t have to scratch your head and think about what went wrong.
Even if the onboarding process is unsuccessful, the software allows you to identify the pain points of the onboarding process and improve it, so you don’t repeat the same mistakes.
If you want to transform your onboarding process, you can start by picking software that’s most effective for your line of work.
The most important thing to consider when picking an onboarding solution is its capacity to customize every step of the process.
Since your small business is unique, you want the onboarding process to gradually move from simpler to more critical tasks in a natural progression.
The other two considerations are the pricing and availability of a free trial. For a small business like yours, the budget will also play a significant role.
Of course, you also want to test the software before making a purchase.
Challenge Your Employees
Challenging your employee can make all the difference between them staying or leaving.
When you fail to challenge your employees, they start feeling bored at their position.
From their standpoint, their skills are being wasted on completing trivial tasks; they feel no satisfaction from a job well done, nor do they see how they’re contributing to the big picture.
If your employee is bored for an extended period of time, they’ll soon disengage from their position entirely. Then, it’s only a matter of time before they’ll quit.
By challenging employees, you’re nurturing their growth as professionals.
Challenging tasks in the workspace force employees out of their comfort zones; they learn new skills and solve complex problems.
A challenged employee gains a certain satisfaction from completing tasks and genuinely enjoys their work.
Because they feel stimulated, employees are far less likely to lose motivation and leave their position at your company.
If you’re having issues with engaging your employees, we’ve got some advice for you.
First, explain to your employee the importance of their specific position and how it contributes to the big picture. They need to understand it fully to appreciate it.
Then, ask them if they want to take on more responsibilities. New tasks should require them to use skills they don’t use at their regular position.
This includes using new technologies or tools.
Give them tasks that go beyond their regular assignments so that the employee has to figure out a solution to solve the problem.
Also, tell them it’s all right to fail.
Remember, the point of you challenging them is to get them out of their comfort zone and help them grow as professionals.
Let’s talk about tactics you can use to improve your business to prevent high turnover.
Enable Your Team With New Solutions
What if we told you that you could reduce your turnover by investing in new solutions that will enable your team?
Often, the tasks your team members take on are difficult to perform. If you invest in new solutions, you can make your employee’s lives easier and enable them to be more productive in their position.
Think about it.
They’ll perform less mundane tasks and can focus on something more challenging and fulfilling. They’ll be satisfied with themselves and more likely to stay.
Your employees will also learn new skills and get a sense of progress.
On the other hand, making them perform unnecessary tasks with outdated software will only make them want to leave.
To find new solutions that improve productivity at the workspace, you need to ask your employees what they struggle with most.
Then, look for a SaaS solution that will directly address that problem.
For example, if your business has an extensive inventory that’s hard to manage, you can employ a tracking system to enable your employees to do it better and faster.
Involve your employees as much as possible and show them you’re ready to invest in them. That way, they’ll know you care about their well-being.
Offer the Option of Remote Work, if Possible
Allowing your employees to switch to remote work is a great way to make them happier.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, remote work opportunities have been booming.
Businesses all over the world discovered they could complete their operations remotely and, by doing so, enable their employees to work in a more comfortable environment.
A survey on employee happiness and satisfaction by Owl Labs revealed that full-time remote workers are 22% happier than those who never engage with remote work.
The same survey revealed that 81% of on-site workers agree that remote work would make them happier.
Other benefits include improving their work-life balance and feeling trusted by the employer.
As you can see, switching to hybrid and remote work models can have a big impact on the well-being of your employees. After all, if they feel happy, employees are less likely to quit.
So, how can you manage a transition to remote?
What you have to do is invest in team management software. Team management software allows small businesses to manage their operations and assign tasks remotely.
If most of your business operations are on site, you can still evaluate your operations and see which tasks you can switch to remote.
Even if you can’t go fully remote, maybe you can create a hybrid schedule where your employees can work from home during a specific day of the week.
Communicate Frequently
In any industry, it’s a given that frequent communication contributes to great employee relationships.
If you keep in touch with your employees frequently, you’ll have fewer miscommunications with them. Your teamwork will improve, and there will be less conflict.
The team will also be less likely to make mistakes.
Efficient communication also helps you keep clear of any frustration that might occur over time in the workplace.
You’ll encourage your employees to be frank with you.
The alternative is bottling up negative feelings about the workspace and eventually wanting to leave.
Being able to discuss ongoing issues openly and whenever needed is a trait of a healthy working relationship.
Start thinking about how frequently you’re going to communicate with your employees and what tools will enable you to do so.
Encourage your employees to speak up whenever they have a problem.
Also, make time every week to do a team meeting or call, where you can openly discuss company dynamics and exchange feedback.
You can use any communication tool that suits your small business the most.
Here’s a handful of top tools:
- Slack is a team communication app that enables you to chat, voice call, and video call your employees.
- Discord is a cheaper alternative to Slack. However, Slack is designed for the workspace, while Discord aims to enable quick and friendly communication even in less formal contexts.
- Consider using Zoom as a staple video conferencing tool.
Finally, we should talk about key turnover prevention tactics: employee recognition.
Recognize Your Employees’ Hard Work
A terrific tactic to prevent high employee turnover is to recognize their hard work.
Small businesses often lack the budget to raise their employees’ salaries whenever they do a great job, but they can still engage employees through empathy and recognition.
According to the latest employee engagement statistics, 52% of employees believe recognition benefits their engagement at work.
When supervisors recognize their efforts, they encourage their employees to continue working hard.
After all, when workers know they’re valued, they’ll feel like a part of the team. As such, they’re more likely to stay with your company.
Recognizing an employee’s hard work is an essential skill.
Show you appreciate them by recognizing them and celebrating their accomplishments in real-time, in front of the entire team. Make employee recognition specific and social.
Thank them for a job well done, and don’t forget to point out how their efforts benefited the entire company.
Since recognition costs nothing, there’s no reason to pass on the opportunity to say thank you.
Conclusion
There you go!
Although running a small business often means you’re operating with a limited budget, there are still plenty of things you can do to prevent high employee turnover.
Remember, how you engage and enable your employees will determine their longevity in your company.
Try these tips on for size, and we’re sure your employees will stay for good.