How to Manage Attrition Levels


By Julia Mcvey


One of the biggest costs for most employers in today’s market place is recruitment of quality staff. In order to reduce this cost every organisation should have in place ‘staff retention action plans’. To achieve this detailed trend analysis will be required specifically looking at:

• The time line – at what point in a career do people want to move on

• What is the leavers profile – age range – position – lifestyle - ambitions

• Exit interviews – detailed questioning of the employees reasons for leaving (not by a line manager)

• Is there a particular time of year when attrition levels are high

• What is the skills base of the leaver and how did this match their role

• identify a profile of employees who stay for more than two years

From this analysis organisations can:

• Introduce career planning and coaching before a valued employee thinks of moving on

• Review values and culture of organisation to improve environment

• Crank up recruitment plans when required in preparation for any seasonal factors

• Review recruitment process to ensure that the right skills base is being recruited and match to profiles of employees who are add value to the organisation.

Finding the right person is less than easy and many organisations forget that the process of recruitment involves selling the organisation to the prospective employee.

What benefits will the employee get from working for the organisation? Surprisingly, money is actually way down the priority list for many people once they can cover what they need to live. Martin Seligman author of Authentic Happiness writes “Law is now the most highly paid profession in America, having surpassed medicine during the 1990s. Yet the major New York law firms now spend more on retention than on recruitment, as their young associates – and even partners – are leaving in droves for work that makes them happier.”

Seligman goes on to explain that people are most happy when they have a calling or vocation - something to do that provides gratification for its own sake. This gratification can come from any type of task if it is viewed as being valued by an individual or an organisation. For example, answering call after call in a busy call centre may seem repetitive and valueless to an employee. If the task can be reframed to focus on the assistance and quality service which is viewed as valuable by the customer and organisation, the sense of gratification will become important to the employee and thus happiness will ensue.

Julia McVey is a professional coach with many years experience working at senior management level. Her passion in life is to release the hidden potential in people. http://www.u-canlifecoaching.com


More Resources

Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exiting

More Management Information:

Related Articles

Turbo-Charge Your Rollout with ERM
Employees are the often-neglected stakeholders in the success or failure of a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) initiative. But employees don't always resist new ways of doing business.
Motivation - You Get What You Reward
There's a programme currently running on BBC Television inthe UK called - "Little Angels." It's a series that offershelp and advice to parents who're experiencing behaviourdifficulties with their children.
How Bad Communication Can Hold You Back and How to Break Free of It
The reason jobs are often not done right and employees are fired is because of lack of skill. Right? Wrong! Poor communication and ineffective human relations are the major causes.
Holding Effective Meetings Can Be Easier than You Think!
I'm sure you've experienced those typical "headache" meetings! You know the kind I'm talking about -- the ones where the key players are running late, no one knows exactly why the meeting was called, and there's not a single agenda in sight. Everyone's sitting around wondering, "Will this last 20 minutes or will we be here all day?" It's impossible to tell!Then, once the meeting finally gets off the ground, the real pandemonium starts.
One Bad Apple
One Bad AppleI know what you are thinking but no, I am not doing atribute to Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5. Although I will admit that their hit song from the 70's keeps rolling around in my mind as I type this.
Increasing Employee Retention Through Employee Engagement
You've seen it happen many times. An organization that provides top wages and benefits loses a great employee to a competitor for no apparent reason.
Assertiveness Helps Accomplish Everything
When trying to get something accomplished, assertive behavior is the most effective. Although other methods may accomplish the intended ends, the alternatives imperil our own rights or those of others, creating conflict and building mistrust into relationships.
Take The Guesswork Out Of Problem Solving
In today's chaotic world and uncertain economic times too many good people are burdened by too many problems that seem insurmountable and too many businesses find it increasingly difficult to compete effectively. The old traditional methods of finding solutions to these problems don't seem to work like they used to.
Procrastination and JDI!
In a management role procrastination can seriously hold back progress and demotivate individuals and teams who, full of innovation and drive to move forward, get frustrated and confused when action is held up.There are a number of steps that will help the procrastinating manager.
The Power of Positive Communication
Communication is the key to your success at work, at play, and at home. Here are six tips that will make a difference in your life:1) People judge others by their actions.
Writing and Revising Your Life Story
Change is not simple. Why do we repeat behavior that doesn't work? Those actions that lead to stifling debt, disappointing careers, or stuck relationships? Then do it harder, yet expect a different result? Why is it not obvious that trying to exit an old story by simply writing a "better ending" only recreates the same story, and ensures that we remain in it? That a thousand better endings to an old story don't create a new story? That the past cannot be changed and is a settled matter? That too often, we see ourselves as the victims of the stories that we author and the feelings we create?We actively construct what we think, feel, and experience.
Downsizing in Organisations - The Real Truth
I've met and worked with many people in all sectors of the business world and found that the majority of managers and team leaders are spending too much of their time on basic administrative tasks. Tasks for which they have had no training in.
How To Turn Business Losses Into Cash Flow
When the typical new business operator starts a business, they concentrate on making the business succeed. That is necessary but not the only thing that a business operator should concentrate on.
Take the Easy Route - Delegate
It was 2.30 am.
Creative Writing - business principles produce more quality work, faster
Maximization methodologies have long been used in business to produce quantities of quality ideas, faster. Creative writers who want to rapidly produce quantities of quality work should apply these same principles.
The Do's and Don'ts of Giving Feedback
Being able to give effective feedback is not just a good skill to possess in business, it is a great life skill to have. Because when you are masterful at giving feedback, not only can you help your employees to sustain continuously improving performance, you can also improve the performance of the baseball team you coach, the cleaning lady at home, or the performance of your own children on completing their chores.
Commercial Collections Billing Practices Advice
Swiftness is the key to collecting past due commercial accounts because commercial accounts depreciate more faster than consumer accounts.In creating and implementing a billing system, a credit grantor should recognize that time is the safest refuge of any debtor.
5 Creative Evolutionary Leadership Niche Strategies!
I have a short story to share with you about an importantskill many leaders need to develop, use and perfect.Life is a journey.
Sharing the Reins: 10 Reasons To Sell Your Company To Your Employees
In 1987 I sold my business, South Mountain Company, to my employees (and myself). My sole proprietorship became an employee-owned cooperative corporation.
On the Road to Assertiveness
Learning to be assertive takes time, courage and the ability to recognize the situation for what is really is.You want to get something done, and you need another's help.