7 tips for reducing employee attrition

A high attrition rate can be costly in more ways than one. When people leave your organisation, their knowledge, skills and networks leave with them, and that is never good for business. You invest time and money in recruiting and training people, and if they then leave, all you’re left with is a bad return on investment and the prospect of another expensive recruitment process ahead.

What would a reduction in attrition be worth to you? I’ve put together some tips to help ensure your employees are looking forward to a long and happy future with you, rather than looking for their next role elsewhere…

Get to know your people

How well do you know the people who determine the success of your business today and into the future? You may know their qualifications and where they used to work, but people are more than just certificates and job titles. Do you know what they’re good at or want to learn? Do you know what they enjoy doing or what is important to them? If you get to know the people who work for you and understand what truly motivates them, you make them visible and you can have more effective conversations with each other. Apply this knowledge to selection processes and you will always have the best and most motivated people available when you need them.

Make opportunities visible

Your people want to build their careers with you, but the vast majority will get a job at another organisation unless they are able to see the opportunities you have to offer. Once you know what your employees are looking for, make opportunities visible to them, so you can see how the two come together. When you both understand what the other is looking for and has to offer, you will find a perfect fit that works for everyone.

Bend to their shape

Everyone has different wants and needs, and they change over time. When you understand what blend of work and life people want, you can offer them benefits that will fit their life-shape, such as flexible working arrangements. Having real-time insight into what people are looking for means you can treat them as individuals and support their maturing and dynamic requirements. This nurtures an authentic relationship between you and gives you both more confidence in your future together.

Engage and motivate

Successful employee engagement isn’t all about staff surveys and Beer Fridays. Knowing what makes people tick is key to ensuring they are engaged and committed. If you can deliver what they need to be a motivated employee, they are more likely to be working towards their future and yours, and less likely to be looking for a new challenge elsewhere. Engaged employees are self-motivated, hard-working and productive. This is positive for their well-being and can only be good for business.

Understand and develop their capabilities

People are more than just a set of high-level skills. Getting to know your employees means understanding the full range of their capabilities and digging deeper into a broader set of more specific sub skills that describe what people can do. By understanding your employees and positions at this level, you can see how well people match to opportunities and where the gaps are. These gaps will open up a world of possibilities in terms of learning and development that will reap benefits for both parties. Why lose good people to other organisations when you could grow together?

It’s not all about the money, money, money

Despite what you may think, people don’t always leave jobs in search of a higher salary. They are often looking for something you are not offering them, like a better work-life balance, or a more challenging opportunity. If you can find out what your people need to be happy and motivated at work, you will be well on your way to reducing your attrition rate.

Use tech to your advantage

The combination of technology, user input and human experience can lead to much more effective decision-making in HR. Optunli is a new AI-driven platform that will give you unprecedented levels of insight into your people. It puts them in control so they can tell you their preferences, priorities, qualities and skills, and enables you to understand and analyse this information to plan your business more effectively and confidently respond to ever-changing needs. This creates an open dialogue that reaches your entire workforce and beyond, to identify gaps, and find people who would be a great fit for your opportunities – even if they don’t work for you yet.