What Is Employee Attrition And How To Reduce Attrition Of Employees?
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Some forms of attrition are unavoidable, such as when an employee retires or relocates to another city. However, after a certain point, attrition can have a significant impact on both your company’s bottom line and its culture. This primer will walk you through everything you need to know about employee attrition and how to accurately measure it.
Employee attrition refers to the natural process of employees leaving a company for a variety of reasons, including resignations, retirements, and other factors. It’s similar to a company’s workforce gradually changing as employees come and go.
Attrition is an unavoidable part of running a business. An employee will eventually want to leave your company for personal or professional reasons.However, when attrition exceeds a certain threshold, it becomes a cause for concern. Attrition among minority employee groups, for example, could be harming diversity at your organisation. Attrition among senior leaders, on the other hand, can result in a significant gap in organisational leadership. Do you know where your company stands in terms of employee attrition?
What Is Employee Attrition?
Source- https://www.talentlyft.com/en/resources/what-is-attrition
Employee attrition occurs when a company’s workforce naturally decreases over time as a result of factors such as employees leaving for personal or career-related reasons that are beyond the company’s direct control.
Employees are leaving the workforce at a faster rate than they are being hired, and this is frequently beyond the employer’s control. Assume you’ve recently opened a new office designated as your company’s Sales Hub. Every salesperson is required to work out of this office; however, a few employees are unable to relocate and have chosen to leave the company. This is a common reason for employee turnover.
However, there are other reasons for attrition, such as a lack of professional development, a hostile work environment, or declining confidence in the company’s market value. Another factor that contributes to employee attrition is poor leadership.
Types Of Employee Attrition
You should be aware of the following five types of employee attrition:
Retirement-related attrition
If your company has lost two or three employees this year, this is statistically too small an employee group to count as attrition. However, if a significant portion of your workforce retires at the same time, this can result in attrition.
Retirement attrition should not be overlooked; your senior professionals may choose to retire early or become independent consultants for reasons other than age.
Voluntary Attrition
Employees who simply quit their jobs contribute to this common type of attrition. There are numerous reasons for voluntary attrition (more on that later), and the majority of them are within your control.
You should take proactive steps to reduce voluntary attrition among high-value employees, as this can reduce productivity over time. For example, if a company notices its marketing experts leaving different business units, this is cause for concern.
Also Read: Optimizing Work Efficiency by Reducing App Toggling for Enhanced Productivity
Unwilling attrition
The company, not the employee, initiates the exit in this scenario. For example, the employee may have demonstrated instances of workplace misconduct, which is a common cause of involuntary attrition. Attrition could also be caused by structural factors. Mergers and acquisitions frequently result in a wave of involuntary attrition.
How To Reduce Attrition Of Employees
Employee retention is critical for organisational stability and growth. You can engage and retain your workforce by creating a positive work environment, offering competitive compensation, providing opportunities for career advancement, and encouraging open communication. Let’s look at how to reduce attrition of employees.
Set reasonable goals
Employees misunderstand their job expectations, which is one of the most common causes of attrition. Avoid post-hire shock by providing clear instructions on daily responsibilities and job functions to all new hires.
Equip employees with efficient tools
Employee attrition is heavily influenced by a lack of proper training and resources to support employee growth and development. Using modern platforms that support microlearning and gamification, you can empower your teams to acquire the skills they need to succeed.
Communicate effectively and frequently
Communication is essential for maintaining employee engagement. After the initial onboarding process, employees, particularly those working in remote locations, may feel disconnected and isolated. According to a Work Institute study, nearly 40% of employees who quit do so within the first year, but in some industries, such as call centres, this figure can be much higher. Ensure that your organization’s goals and any company updates are shared with the entire team on a regular basis. Open up various channels of communication to ensure that everyone is heard.
Source- https://toggl.com/blog/employee-attrition
Reasons For Employee Attrition
Employee attrition can occur for a variety of reasons, including job dissatisfaction, a lack of advancement opportunities, insufficient pay, a poor work-life balance, and conflicts with coworkers or management. Understanding these factors is critical for organisations that want to implement effective retention strategies and build a more stable and motivated workforce. Let’s look at some reasons for employee attrition.
Also Read: Unlocking Efficiency: Your Guide to Tackling Overtime in BPO and IT Companies
Ineffective Hiring Strategy
If you do not evaluate a candidate before making a final hiring decision, you are allowing the candidate to leave the organisation. Poor hiring decisions can deter future potential candidates who are a perfect fit for a specific job opening.
How to fix It- Rethink your hiring process and your candidate persona. Use an applicant tracking system to improve your hiring efficiency and increase your chances of hiring the right person by automating time-consuming tasks. Perform background checks, make data-driven decisions, and be specific about your job requirements.
Toxic Workplace Culture
According to Deloitte, 94 percent of executives and 88 percent of employees believe that having a distinct workplace culture is important for business success. This is why it is critical to foster a positive work environment for your employees. Toxic work environments harm employees’ well-being, resulting in high absenteeism and low productivity.
How to fix it- If a toxic workplace culture is a major contributor to your high employee turnover, you must assess whether your employees feel valued, heard, and appreciated in the organisation. Conduct polls and surveys to gather feedback on specific company policies, communicate openly with your employees, listen to and act on their feedback, and promote inclusion. Avoid micromanagement by granting more autonomy and flexibility.
Opportunities for Growth and Development
Finally, everyone seeks an organisation that provides opportunities for continuous growth and development. Due to a lack of appropriate growth and development programmes, you may lose your best employees. Nobody wants to work in the same job for the rest of their professional life. As a result, you should always prioritise providing your employees with the necessary training and coaching.
How to fix It- Strive to assist your employees in their financial, professional, and personal development. Encourage employee learning by providing regular training sessions, paying for online courses or other educational programmes, or giving them opportunities to grow within the company by assigning them greater responsibilities.
Conclusion
It is critical to recognise if your company is losing people, why they are leaving, and what you can do to manage the situation. Knowing your employee attrition rate and the reasons people leave allows you to implement long-term workforce planning strategies to protect your organisation from an unwelcome headcount reduction. Unlock efficiency with ProHance to transform your workforce management today!
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1: What is the difference between attrition and turnover?
The total number of employment terminations, including employees who are replaced, is referred to as turnover. The number of positions that are not filled when employees leave is referred to as attrition.
Q2: Why is employee attrition a problem?
When there are too many open positions to maintain productivity, employee attrition can be a problem. When a workforce reduction is required, attrition can be a better option than layoffs.
Q3: What are the benefits of high employee attrition rates for a company?
Increased recruitment and onboarding costs, decreased morale among remaining employees, disruption in project continuity, and potential loss of valuable skills and knowledge are all consequences of high employee attrition rates. It can also harm the company’s reputation as a desirable place to work, making attracting and retaining top talent more difficult.
