Are You Losing Your Best People? 5 Ways to Reduce Turnover
Executives know and accept that some staff attrition will happen. In a high-performing culture, it is even desirable for under-performing employees leave. Unfortunately, organizations cannot always predict which employees will leave and when. Over the past 12-15 months, leaders have become deeply concerned about epic numbers of employees quitting their jobs or seriously considering their options.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimate of the number of employees who quit their jobs in 2021 was a total of 69 million, and nearly two-thirds of those were voluntary. A whopping 40% of employees are currently looking for a new job opportunity, and studies find that it’s not about the money. Employees are 10 times more likely to leave a company due to a toxic work culture then due to low pay. It’s clear that employees don’t quit bad jobs, they quit bad bosses, so here’s what today’s leadership can do about it.
According to the ILEC philosophy, leaders of organizations must embody four transformative elements in their company culture: Altruism, Affiliation, Achievement, and Abundance (The 4 A’s). These game-changing ingredients will allow you to attract and retain the best employees and inspire them to perform at their best. The 4 A’s are the foundation that allow organizations to achieve sustained operational performance, driving breakthrough results and create an environment where employees thrive. The 4 A’s, and one special fifth point of advice, are a meaningful strategy for leadership to reduce turnover and get an important outside perspective.
1. Altruism
The organization’s leadership must adopt the belief and behavior that is indeed selfless in nature, interested and invested in the well-being of those in their workforce. With the tumult of the two years, employees are reevaluating their priorities and needs when it comes to their employer. They are concluding that they want to work for a company with an authentic mission aligned to their own, and an organization that truly cares about them and their contribution. If leaders don’t exude an altruistic purpose, they aren’t providing employees with a basic need.
2. Affiliation
People have an innate need for affiliation. A need to feel a sense of involvement and “belonging” within a social group, party, or company. For CEOs and other C-suiters, affiliation implies a close association between leadership and employees that expresses a relatability to their workforce. How many current leaders would describe the relationship with their employees as close and mutually beneficial? Employees want to feel valued and appreciated for their contribution. They want the company they “affiliate” themselves with treat them with respect and to be inclusive.
3. Achievement
In a high-performance culture, achievement is both a stated goal and occasion to celebrate. Leaders set the tone by defining “success” in a compelling way to inspire and engage employees, make them feel essential and understand their individual and collective roles and their expected contribution. Are your employees truly engaged? Do they feel included and valued? Do they understand what’s expected of them? As a leader, if you can’t define success, or you don’t celebrate it when it occurs, your employees won’t feel connected to the organization as a whole and morale will undoubtedly suffer.
4. Abundance
Leaders must create an abundance or growth mindset as opposed to a scarcity mindset. Employees want opportunities to be seen, heard and contribute their energy and expertise. Successful executive leaders align the company’s interests with the achievement of their workforce. They create a mutual feeling of confidence and fulfillment within the organization. All employees must feel recognized and valued for their unique contribution. Those employees that feel fulfilled and abundant rarely think about whether the grass is greener somewhere else.
5. Hire an Experienced Executive Coach
Attracting and retaining the most talented staff members is a real challenge, and the unplanned loss of employees can result in immeasurable losses. For many organizations, the underlying problem causing the turnover is not entirely clear, and they don’t know where to start. It may be good to seek outside assistance and to hire a coach. The right coach for the job will be well-skilled at assessing company culture and recommending actionable steps to determine and remedy the factors leading to high employee turnover.
Investing in an executive leadership coach can pay many dividends down the road. The challenge of retaining your top talent is too grave to gloss over and likely requires an external perspective to solve.
Intelligent Leadership Executive Coaching (ILEC) is the world’s No. 1 executive coaching platform dedicated to growing tomorrow’s leaders through organizational transformation. Our master certified ILEC coaches utilize a proven blueprint and philosophy designed to help you become an effective executive leader. If you’re ready to take the all-important first step, let’s discuss your personal mission, vision, and purpose.