Table 1 Demographic profile

21 30 74
31 40 31
Age Variable
41 50 9
51 60 6
17 73
8 14 23
Work Experience
15 21 13
> 21 11
40
Cluster
Location 80
Project Site

Hire the right people

The best way to ensure employees dont leave you is to make sure you are hiring the right
employees to begin with. Define the role clearlyboth to yourself and to the candidates. And
then be absolutely sure the candidate is a fit not only for it, but for your company culture.
Fire people who dont fit
As the old saying goes, a stitch in time, saves nine. The same goes for cutting employees
loose when necessary. Sometimes even when you follow the advice above, you get an
employee whono matter what you try to dojust doesnt fit. And, no matter how effective
they might be at their actual work, an employee who is a bad fit is bad for your culture, and
that creates culture debt. They will do more damage than good by poisoning the well of
your company. Cut them loose.
Keep compensation and benefits current
Be sure that you are paying employees the fair going wage for their work (or better) and offer
them competitive benefits, orreallywho can blame them for ditching you? This might
seem like a no brainer but youd be surprised how few companies offer raises that keep up
with an employees development and actual rising worth.
Encourage generosity and gratitude
Encourage pro-social behavior in your employees. When they are given the opportunity to
connect with one another through acts of generosity and the expression of gratitude,
employees will be healthier, happier, and less likely to fly the coop. And by encouraging
them to be on the lookout for good behaviors to commend, you give people a sense of
ownership of the company.
Recognize and reward employees
Show your employees they are valued and appreciated by offering them real-time recognition
that celebrates their successes and their efforts. Make it specific, social and supported by
tangible reward, and you, too, will be rewardedwith their loyalty.
Offer flexibility
Todays employees crave a flexible life/work balance. That impacts retention directly. In fact,
a Boston College Center for Work & Family study found that 76% of managers and 80% of
employees indicated that flexible work arrangements had positive effects on retention. And
more and more companies know it. That means, if youre not offering employees flexibility
around work hours and locations, they might easily leave you for someone who will.
Pay attention to engagement
This one sounds obvious, but for too many leaders interest in engagement is limited to the
results of engagement surveys. Its not enough simply to run an engagement survey once a
year. You need save most of your energy to take action based on the results and you need to
work to build a culture of engagement in your company all year long.
Prioritize employee happiness
Happiness may sound a bit soft and squishy to many execs, but the numbers behind it are
anything but. Employee happiness is a key indicator of job satisfaction, absenteeism and
alignment with valuesjust for starters. Investing in the happiness of your employees will pay
dividends in engagement, productivity and yes, retention. (Find some tips for building
happiness here.)
Make opportunities for development and growth
Employees place HUGE value on opportunities for growth. In fact, a recent Cornerstone
survey drew a direct connection between lack of development opportunity and high turnover
intentions. If you arent developing your employees then you arent investing in them. And if
you arent investing in them, why should they stay with you?
Clean up performance reviews
Our most recent Workforce Mood Tracker survey painted a frankly dismal picture of how
employees feel about performance reviews. Only 49 percent of them find reviews to be
accurate, and only 47 percent find them to be motivating. Performance reviews offer a prime
opportunity for a big win to increase trust and fortify your relationship with employees.
Improve performance management by overhauling reviews, and watch employee trust and
satisfaction grow.
Provide an inclusive vision
One key factor in employee engagement and happiness, according to experts, is to provide
them with a sense of purpose and meaning in their work. Offer employees a strong vision and
goals for their work and increase their sense of belonging and loyalty to your organization.
Demonstrate and cultivate respect
Finally, dont discount respect when it comes to creating a
magnetic culture. In fact, in one 2012 study, respect in the
workplace was revealed to be a key factor in voluntary turnover.
Find ways to cultivate and nurture respect in your workplace and
it will pay off in higher retention

Tips for Reducing Employee Turnover

Reducing employee turnover is dependent on the total work environment you offer for
employees.

Employees thrive when the work environment supports them in attaining their goals and
dreams. The best employees for your organization share your vision and values about what
they want to experience at work.

These recommendations about reducing employee turnover are also common-sense, basic and
incredibly hard to find in organizations today.

Select the right people in the first place through behavior-based testing and
competency screening. Sure, an onsite interview gives you a feel for whether the
person can fit within your culture, but your key to selecting the best employees is to
determine how well they can do the job. The right person, in the right seat, on the
right bus is the starting point.
At the same time, don't neglect to hire people with the innate talent, ability, and
smarts to work in almost any position even if you don't currently have the best match
available. Hire the smartest people you can find to reduce employee turnover.
 Offer an attractive, competitive, comprehensive benefits package with components
such as life insurance, disability insurance and flexible hours. I'll never forget a young
employee whose stated reason for accepting our job offer was the availability of our
401(k) match.

And, my research on millennials and money indicates that they do not want to repeat
the mistakes of their parents. Better benefits = reduced employee turnover.

Provide opportunities for people to share their knowledge on-the-job via training
sessions, presentations, mentoring others and team assignments. Employees like to
share what they know; the act of teaching others ensures the employee's own learning.
Demonstrate respect for employees at all times. Listen to them deeply; use their ideas;
never ridicule or shame them. Via your communication, share that you value them.
Offer performance feedback and praise good efforts and results to reduce employee
turnover.
People want to enjoy their work. Make work fun. Engage and employ the special
talents of each individual.
Enable employees to balance work and life. Allow flexible starting times, core
business hours and flexible ending times. (Yes, his son's soccer game is as important
as work.)
Involve employees in decisions that affect their jobs and the overall direction of the
company whenever possible. Involve them in the discussion about company vision,
mission, values, and goals. This strategic framework will never live for them or
become owned by them if they merely read it in email or hanging on the wall.
Recognize excellent performance, and especially, link pay to performance to reduce
employee turnover. Your key employees are motivated when their above-average
efforts are recognized and rewarded.

Base the upside of bonus potential on the success of both the employee and the
company and make it limitless within company parameters. (As an example, pay 10%
of corporate profits to employees.)
Recognize and celebrate success. Mark their passage as important goals are achieved.
Bring in pizza or breakfast to celebrate reaching milestones and turn the occasion into
a brief ceremony while you celebrate success.
Staff adequately so overtime is minimized for those who don't want it and people
don't wear themselves out. You will discover that salaried employees who are
engaged and excited will work the hours necessary to get their jobs done.
Nurture and celebrate organization traditions. Have a costume party every Halloween.
Run a food collection drive every November. Pick a monthly charity to help. Have an
annual company dinner at a fancy hotel.

Provide opportunities within the company for cross-training and career progression.
People like to know that they have room for career movement. This is a serious
deterrent to employee turnover.
Provide the opportunity for career and personal growth through training and
education, challenging assignments and more responsibility.
Communicate goals, roles, and responsibilities so that people know what is expected
and they feel like part of the in-crowd.
According to research by the Gallup organization, encourage employees to have good,
even best, friends, at work.

Now that you have the list that will reduce employee turnover, why not work to make your
organization one of the few, the best, that truly honors and appreciates employees. If you treat
your employees wonderfully, you will seriously reduce employee turnover and employee
complaints.