Having a high staff turnover is never a good situation. When employees continually leave your organization, it is clear that there is a problem that needs addressing.

Having a high staff turnover is a negative position to be in for many reasons:

• your customers won’t receive consistent service
• your reputation as an employer and as a business could be damaged
• you won’t attract the best candidates for future vacant positions if your high staff turnover is made public
• you are likely to have poor staff morale
• you will be continually spending both time and money recruiting new staff and then training them.

As you can see, there are a lot of negatives implications of having a high staff turnover, so recruiting the right staff and then retaining them is the better option. To keep staff, you will need to provide them with the right incentives to stay with your business and continue being productive members of the team.

Provide a Happy Work Environment

A happy work environment is more likely to be a productive one, than a negative work environment, so where possible it is a good idea to think about your premises from an employees perspective. We’re not talking about providing neck massages and all you can eat buffets in the office, merely providing a space that suits the kinds of work your employees do and is a cheerful, welcoming space should be enough.

A dingy, cramped office space won’t inspire your employees to be raring to get on with their work at 9 am on a Monday. A light, and spacious office, with a kitchen area for making teas and coffees and sofa to relax on at break times, is far more likely to keep your employees comfortable, happy and productive.

Supply the Best Tools for the Job

Just as the space that they work in is essential for getting the most from your employees, this is equally true for the tools that you supply them with to do their job. Using equipment that’s not fit for purpose or outdated software is likely to leave your team feeling frustrated and spending more time trying to troubleshoot systems that don’t suit the job than they spend doing their actual work.

Streamlining your processes by using time-saving software will not only provide a more user-friendly, less frustrating solution for your staff but will also make your processes much more efficient. For example, software such as Copper manages contacts enabling your team to have all the contact data they need readily available at their fingertips, without the need to manually process the information and update a database. Software like this is similar to having a super-efficient new team member who helps everyone out and makes their jobs easier.

Consider Employee Wellbeing

In some organizations, there can be a level of guilt attached to taking a lunch break or leaving to go home on time. People often think that having their presence in the office shows their dedication and improves their chances for promotion and pay rises before long everyone is missing their lunch breaks as they fear they will be seen as lazy if they take one.

When considering your employee’s wellbeing, it is essential to encourage them to take breaks for many reasons.

• Firstly, to retain staff, a culture of criticism when people take their breaks is not conducive to a happy workplace and a happy workforce, as it encourages people to talk behind one another’s back and causes rifts in the team.

• Secondly, Just because people want to be seen to be productive by staying behind, or skipping lunch does not mean that they are productive. They are more likely to be productive if they get something to eat and some fresh air and come back refreshed and ready to tackle the afternoon’s work.

Encouraging staff to take breaks is so crucial for their wellbeing, their productivity and their health in general. Getting some space between themselves and their work will help to bring their stress levels down and return to the task with renewed clarity.

While it can be tempting to think that our employees should get on with their work and be glad that they have employment, this kind of attitude won’t help you to keep hold of your best staff and get the most from them. Considering your employee’s needs, and being mindful of their wellbeing can save you a lot of time and money in the future and will encourage increased productivity in the present.

© New To HR