While employee turnover is a reality in your life as a business owner, it’s still costly and disruptive. You must spend time and money recruiting, hiring, and training a replacement while your current employees potentially take on a larger workload until the new hire is up to speed. Identifying your company’s weak spots and developing a strategy to overcome them is the most effective thing you can do to reduce employee turnover.
Hire People Who Fit into Your Company Culture
One applicant could have much stronger skills than another and still be a poor fit for your company’s open position. That is because he or she lacks the personal attributes that define your company culture. Leadership ability, the desire to learn from feedback, self-motivation, and working well in a team are just some common examples of personal traits that don’t always show up on a resume.
Switching to a behavioral interviewing strategy can help you hire the right person for the job. The premise of this interviewing method is that a person’s past behavior on the job is an excellent indicator of how he or she will act in the new position. Behavioral interviewing goes beyond screening for specific skills to probe how an applicant would react to several on-the-job scenarios. Keep in mind that you can teach some skills the applicant might lack but personal traits are inborn. Teasing out as much of this information in a behavioral interview is one way to ensure a good fit from the start.
Offer Competitive Industry Pay and Benefits, Including Flexible Work Schedules
Before advertising an open position, spend time researching the market and learning what your competitors pay for a similar role. It’s also important to consider cost of living in your geographic region. Paying employees fairly helps to build loyalty to your company because they feel more appreciated. However, a new employee’s total compensation package goes beyond just the salary. People with more than one job offer will consider these benefits as well:
Health insurance
Dental insurance
Life insurance
Retirement savings plan with a company match
Paid time off
Most companies offer these benefits. Some choose to get creative with benefits such as student loan repayment assistance or veterinary benefits to attract top talent. Many of today’s employees also face the incredible challenge of balancing work and family. Offering flexible schedules or the ability to work from home some of the time can attract people for whom this is the most important benefit of all.
Help Employees Forge a Career Path
It’s normal for people to seek challenge, especially in their career. When your employees feel bored and don’t see any possibility for advancement, they are more likely to seek new opportunities outside of the company. Advising prospective employees on a typical career path during an interview can provide greater direction and focus. Be sure to provide coaching and opportunities to learn new skills to send employees the message you care about their career development.
Your Partner in Small Business
Palmetto Payroll offers several support services tailored to the needs of each small business we serve. Please contact us today to learn more.
