How many times have you been in a situation where you had to decide whether to replace your staff or use staff retention strategies?
It’s no surprise that in a business, one of your employees has left you and you had the need to replace them, it has happened at least once or more.
Most importantly, the question that you need to ask yourself is, how much is this costing you? Every time an employee leaves you and you replace them, you are incurring a cost, after all, every decision that you make in your business does come to money.
According to many studies, the average staff turnover rate in Australia is 8-9% - That is one person every year in a 10-person business. Have you wondered what your turnover rate is for your business?
Let me give you an example to make things clear for you:
In a business,
The number of employees that were changed over 5 years was 3
The average number of employees that is currently in the business is 4
As a result,
Employee Turnover Rate = 15%
The results derived from the example above are considered above the average staff turnover rate in Australia, which is not so good.
What does that cost you?
Many kinds of research have proved that there is a cost incurred when businesses turn over staff, according to the Work Institute’s staff retention report in 2017 said that the cost to replace a worker is 33% of the worker’s salary in direct costs, so for a $50,000 salary that’s over $16,500.
If you are using employment agencies then this cost could be higher – it could cost you $10,000 or more for an employment agency.
Other blog articles on this topic have proved to have higher costs of 50%, 100% and 150% of the worker’s salary.
In our example let’s assume $26,500 costs to turn over a single person, at a 15% turnover rate in a four-person team it costs you around $16,000 per year – and that’s a lot.
If you could get this down just to the average turnover rate that would save you $5,000 plus a year – that’s a lot of money, so what if we re-invested this money into staff retention.
Why Invest in Staff Retention?
If you work on actively retaining your team the investment has direct business impacts, according to a Forbes article those people who work on staff retention state a
- 21% greater profitability
- Their teams are 4.6 times more likely to perform their best work,
And a Gallup study found that engaged employees have a 41% lower absenteeism.
Combined with the cost of recruitment and investing just a small amount in team engagement will result in huge improvements.
How to Retain Your Team For Longer
1. Show Appreciation
2. Start Listening
We have two ears and one mouth and we should use them in that proportion.
3. Normalize Clear values and Behavioural Standards
Nothing impacts a workplace more than one of the team getting away with not pulling their weight - and the boss doing nothing about it.
Having a clear understanding of “this is how we do “it” here” will ensure that everyone knows what is expected. And, when someone does break the rules they are gently reminded that “this is not how it’s done here”.
In one of the articles- What’s the importance of a diverse workforce? Who should you have in the team? You will understand that each business operates differently, and you as the boss must ensure that your staff are following the values and behavioural standards that you set to follow in your organisation. This way your staff know exactly where to stand in line when it comes to conducting business.
4. Salary Reviews
There is nothing worse for morale when the new guy is paid more than everyone else because the market rate for wages has gone up.
5. Time Together Outside of Working
Spending time with your team members outside the work environment will help build a trustworthy relationship with your staff.
6. Training
Helping people improve their skills will improve their quality, productivity or the type of work they can do for you, increasing the value they provide. There is nothing better than providing your staff with the right training to help them improve in their work, and for the employee, it shows you care about making them more employable – you are investing in them.
The right type of training is a form of incentive for your staff.
To conclude, these are my top 6 tips to engage with your staff and keep them with you for a long term. If you haven’t tried any of these, now is the time to step up and think about it. Your staff can either cost you a lot or help you make a good profit.
Before I leave it to you, I have one last question for you- Do you won’t cost your business every time you replace staff or do you want to retain your staff and benefit from them?
In summary, implementing Field Service Management software can support staff retention strategies in the FSM industry by streamlining onboarding, optimizing task management, facilitating performance tracking and feedback, promoting transparent communication, fostering skill development, and recognizing top performers. As a result, companies can enhance employee satisfaction and retention by trying FSM software, benefiting their bottom line.
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With our cutting-edge technology and in-depth knowledge of how the Field Service Management sector operates, the i4TGlobal Team loves to share industry insights to help streamline your business processes and generate new leads. We are driven by innovation and are passionate about delivering solutions that are transparent, compliant, efficient and safe for all stakeholders and across all touch points.
