Join – stay – leave; it’s the basis for a classic employee lifecycle model. But, if your business is spending far too much time dealing with the latter (and, ipso facto, working on overdrive to fulfil the former), it might be time to capitalise on the only real benefit that excessive employee churn brings about; leaver feedback.  For some top tips, read on.

The Big Picture: UK Employee Turnover.

Last year in the UK, average turnover sat at 15%, and according to research carried out by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) it is predicted to rise to 18% by 2018.  In a report carried out by Oxford Economics, the cost of replacing lost labour was estimated at £30,614 per employee. The two main factors contributing to this figure are the indirect cost of lost output, and the direct cost of recruiting and training a new hire.  And given that the same report estimates that, on average, new starters take 28 weeks to reach optimum productivity, there is likely to be a heavy burden placed on other employees as they pick up the slack (and support their new colleague) during this timeframe.

‘Mind The Gap’; Employee Churn.

For many businesses experiencing high turnover, it’s a vicious circle.  While you’re busy welcoming newcomers in through the front door, full of promise and good intent, you are watching people disappear out of the back door at an alarming rate.  Meanwhile the demands placed on your business do not go away.  So it is that the faster the churn and the higher the volume of vacancies, the greater the sense of urgency to just ‘fill the gaps’, and the higher the chances become of making the wrong hiring decisions.  But, as the saying goes, ‘act in haste, repent at leisure’.

It takes a bold employer or HR professional to take a step back from the endless process of replacing leavers, and draw a line in the sand.  Because, as every HR professional knows, the one thing that you never hear when a hiring manager submits a vacancy requisition are the words ‘Take your time, there’s no rush’. With pressure from all corners to fill vacancies by yesterday, it is often the case that spending precious hours focussing on the views of outgoing staff falls swiftly to the bottom of the priority list.

Join, Stay, Leave – Breaking The Pattern.

But a cautionary note. The ‘join, stay, leave’ employee cycle is rather like a three legged stool, Unless you take steps to assess, understand and act upon employee engagement at every point, you will never successfully drive retention in your organisation.  Typically, most companies invest heavily in engagement at the new hire stage.   Many go on to assess employee satisfaction levels along the way, via annual audits.  But few pay sufficient heed to the powerful feedback that can be provided by those on their way out. Yet, in order to reduce the problem of employee churn, you should be routinely assessing the viewpoint of your leavers.  Only by doing this can you understand what drives resignations in your business and take appropriate action to minimise unplanned and unwanted loss.  And as hard as it is to make the time for this, the bigger the surge for the exit door, the higher a priority your exit data should become.

You’re doubtless fully aware of the value of exit data, and in a Utopian world, you’d sit down and have a lengthy heart to heart with all your leavers well ahead of the third glass of wine at their leaving do.  At great{with}talent, we understand the real world you’re operating within; the one where time is a precious commodity, the one where there just aren’t enough hours in the day, and where, frankly, something has to give.  And when you’re in that position, it’s no surprise that there is a tendency to put your existing and remaining staff (and the recruitment of new hires) ahead of those who have already mentally checked out and are moving on.

Last Opinion – The Quick & Affordable Solution

That’s exactly why we are here, and where we can help.  Our LastOpinion exit questionnaires are quick and cost effective.  Administered and analysed entirely by us, they’re designed to gather the detailed and insightful data which you simply don’t have the time to record or collate in house.  It takes seconds to open an online account. All we need are the basic details of your leavers (which you add at the click of a button) and we will do the rest. We work on your behalf to send out, chase up, review and analyse the questionnaires.  You receive detailed reports telling you exactly what is driving resignation in your organisation, and crucially, what you can do to improve retention. We can break this data down in any way you require.  And that’s not all.  We can deliver all this via mobile friendly technology, meaning that whether your people are glued to a desk, a smartphone or a tablet, they’ll be able to respond in the manner most convenient to them at a time that suits them best.

And while we are doing all of that, you’re free to get on with the business of running your business.  Sounds good, doesn’t it? So if you recognise the value of exit feedback, but you simply don’t have the time to manage it, why not trial our services for free There are no strings, no catches and no obligations – we’re happy to let our product sell itself, and we’re pretty sure that by the end of 30 days, you won’t be looking back.  For more information, take a look at http://www.lastopinion.com/ or call us for a more detailed chat.