They wouldn’t be alone. Salary.com reports that while most employers think around 1/3 of their staff might be searching on the sly for another job, the truth is that close to 2/3 of your workforce is probably looking for a better offer.
When you consider that replacing key staff can cost upwards of 300% of their positoin’s annual salary and benefits total, employee retention becomes a much higher priority. In fact, US businesses experience 14.7% voluntary turnover every year. Depending on your industry, average employee salary, and time to replace key staff, turnover can add up to 46% more to your total employment costs every year.
What factors influence turnover? Numerous intangibles, of course, such as the level of draconian tyranny your managers use to enforce company policies, but there’s quite a bit the average company can do to mitigate voluntary turnover – even (especially!) during a recession.
A terrific place to start is with your employee wellness package. We discovered that if employees don’t find your wellness program attractive, they’re four times more likely to leave your company for greener pastures. A Vacation Wellness™ program is an easy way to spice up your employee wellness offering. At a recent Vacation Wellness™ benefit program rollout, employees were literally jumping up and down with excitement over their new vacation benefit program. The business owner was still fielding thankful comments from staff members two weeks later. That’s certainly a warm wellness reception.
Having excited employees is worth far more than just a warm feeling. Right Management and the World Economic Forum report that 64% of employees who take a favorable view of your wellness offering plan to remain with your company for more than five years. Depending on your market segment, keeping a single $75K/year employee on staff for five years can save two replacement cycles, and up to $600K in replacement costs. For a single employee.
Those figures mean that few employee initiatives can save you as much money over time as a focused retention strategy. It’s best to keep your own pastures green.
We’ve just released the results of our employee retention study review in a white paper. You might be surprised what you learn about how much employee turnover is costing your business. Take a look here.
