Nothing. And I mean nothing…

Frustrates like:

• Investing weeks and weeks searching for the right candidate
• Spending thousands in advertising, fees and lost productivity
• Exhausting personal energy bringing a new staff member up-to-speed
• Getting emotionally involved and excited to have them on your team

Only to receive that email:

“Hey, thanks so much for the opportunity, but….”

No more than a few weeks with you and they’ve got one foot out the door and into the next role.

Let’s not sugar coat it…

The cost of losing an employee is estimated to be between 16% to 213% of the employee’s annual salary (depending on their role at the company).

And often it happens in the first 2 months; around a quarter (22%) of employee turnover occurs in the first 45 days.

As if the numbers aren’t bad enough…

It can feel demoralising.

Especially if you’re a smaller business and you wanted that person to be a special part of your team.

So how can you stop this happening in the future?

Today we’ll cover several powerful recruitment and onboarding techniques that you can use to reduce employee churn.

Recruit to Retain

Recruitment techniques to reduce turnover

1. Realistic Job Preview (RJP)
Develop a method to realistically convey the aspects of the role before applicants accept the position. This helps to avoid unrealistic expectations, allows the candidate to self-select whether the role meets their needs, and builds additional commitment.

Some of the ways you can offer candidates an RPJ:

• Create a video of employees performing the role (video delivers a consistent message to all candidates)
• Develop a simulation or test (useful in software development / analytical roles)
• Take the candidate on a tour of the office or site to see the role being performed live
• Let a candidate meet an employee as part of their interview process

2. Hire For Right Fit (Not Speed)
One core driver of employee churn is hiring those who are not the right fit for your team. To fix this, use D.I.S.C personality assessments to understand the dynamics of your team (and uncover missing skill sets). Then map the personality attributes of successful team members so you know exactly what you’re looking for in new staff.

Ask me about setting up D.I.S.C. assessments for your team.

Onboard to Sustain

Onboarding techniques to reduce turnover

3. Have Answers to Common Questions
New employees have lots of questions. Failing to have this information to hand can make new hires feel confused, without direction and without support (all drivers of turnover). Consider collating this information into a document, WIKI or onto your company intranet.

12 common questions you’ll probably get asked:

1. Do I have a guide / mentor / buddy during my first few weeks?
2. What’s the dress code?
3. Is there a preference for my work schedule / hours? Is there a work-from-home policy?
4. Where are the conference rooms? How do they work?
5. How does the team prefer to communicate – email, IM, text, phone, in-person?
6. Do I need to set up business cards, stationery, etc.? How is that done? Who is responsible?
7. Where’s the closest printer? How do I get that set up?
8. Who do I contact with IT issues? Is there a Help Desk or ticket system?
9. What is the business travel and expense policy?
10. Where can I ship packages to? Does my mail get delivered to my desk or to a mailbox?
11. Where does the team like to go for lunch? What time does everyone normally go?
12. What projects have highest priority right now? How can I help with those projects?

4. Engage Quickly To Reach Productivity Faster
All the research suggests that companies who have a formal onboarding plan improve retention, increase productivity and reduce stress levels for new hires. In short, you need a plan of attack to engage new hires and get them up to speed quick.

For a fast-start guide, download my Staff Onboarding Tool to help you map out the basics. If you need further support, contact me to assist in building a professional staff onboarding plan for your company.

5. Sell Their Future
Remember that it’s human nature to view the world through the lens of WIIFM(What’s In It For Me). New staff transitioning from another company have already spent considerable time thinking about their career and future. Use this to your advantage!

3 powerful ways to build long-term commitment in the minds of new staff:

1. Offer a clear path of career progression
2. Conduct a future-planning session to help new staff develop a vision of their future (be sure to tie this to your company!)
3. Demonstrate a commitment to training and development

Any questions?

If you have questions on this topic or any others, feel free to reach me by email or set up a free one-on-one consultation session, or drop me a comment below.

Thanks for sharing!