The Hidden Costs of High Staff Turnover

Attrition in the work place is an expected part of today’s mobile workforce. But if staff are leaving too frequently, your business will feel the consequences in reduced productivity and poor customer service. Preventing the cultural and financial implications of increasing staff turnover starts with good recruitment practices, to avoid these costly risks:

1. Spiralling staff morale

Addressing the big-picture problems of staff changes is management’s concern, but who usually ends up taking up the slack? That’s right, the employees who are still working for you. Not only do your loyal workers need to perform their own jobs well, but during changeover they also have to take on extra loads or train others to do so.

Extended interruptions to workflow during times of staff turnover can cost you sales or even customers. The impact can be frustrating for individual workers under additional stress. If not handled well, the transition can be demotivating for dedicated staff.

2. Impact on reputation

If clients dread calling your business because they can’t rely on knowledgeable staff handling their sales or enquiries, they may become annoyed and look for an alternative supplier. Doubts will emerge for your customers about service reliability if the voice on the line changes too often. In some industries, networking is close-knit and word of mouth is powerful.

Taking measures to prevent staff turnover can result in building loyal customers who spread the word about their good experiences with your staff.

3. Loss of corporate knowledge

You can’t put a price on good corporate knowledge, which is lost forever when a valuable staff member leaves. A worker with longevity brings experience that only comes with tenure and their expertise within your business is irreplaceable after departure. The loss of corporate knowledge has an impact across departments. Maintaining good two-way staff communication can help prevent the turnover that erodes internal company expertise.

4. Expense of new inductions

Induction can include time and overtime of other staff, a delay in services provided to clients or in production schedules. In general, time spent on new inductions can also create a distraction to other staff and contribute to decreasing morale. Introducing and honing efficient procedures is one way to streamline induction processes and is recommended practice if high turnover is a problem for your business.

Hire well to prevent high staff turnover

Effective hiring is the key to avoiding the costs associated with turnover. For successful staff retention, it’s vital to attract, qualify and hire the right person to your job vacancies in the first place. When done, welcoming and preparing new staff to make them as comfortable as possible means thorough induction, good communication and perhaps appointing a mentor to guide recruits through their early months.

A new employee is a captive and willing audience for receiving a clear message on your business goals and your expectations. Give them the resources and personal confidence to get their job done and they’ll stay for the long term.

Reducing staff turnover has a domino-effect on your business culture. When you nurture the right recruits, it will be apparent to your clients that something good is happening internally and people will want to do business with you.

Ready to recruit staff that will stay?

Call us today on 1300 795 965 to find out more about hiring the right people to fit your company culture. Ask us about training or up-skilling your current team, to prevent costly staff turnover. Or you can email us for a fast reply from your nearest recruitment consultant.