Why spend money to retain your team?

Just in case you haven’t had time to notice… it’s freaking tough and in some cases almost impossible to find a great new team member – especially in the Trades! We thought it was timely to point out how expensive it can be (more than recruitment fees) and provide some inexpensive ideas to retain your team.

If you’ve been lucky enough to avoid the impact of employees quitting (or being poached) congratulations and keep up the great work! If you have been affected you’ll understand the impact and the strain of covering the short fall however are you aware of how high the costs are? With Spring and the fast approaching New Year we often find people looking at or for new opportunities so it’s a great time to review your retention program.

We found a white paper (completed by Globoforce) with a case study that gave a nice summary indicating that the estimated average turnover cost (as a % of salary) fluctuates between 30% (entry level work) to 200% (management level work). That could look like this…

These costs can include; lower productivity, hiring (time, effort, disruption, recruitment fees) and training costs (more time, effort, training courses, disruption and the odd mistake) plus sometimes ex-employees take business with them.

Inexpensive prevention work can include; saying thank you, recognizing and acknowledging work well done, shouting a cup of coffee or morning tea, a birthday card/gift and remembering to organize something for seasonal celebrations. Or you can develop a formal training and retention plan within your budgets. As long as you’re doing something! If you need more ideas touch base with our team.