20 Facts You Need To Know About Employee Turnover

by James Adonis 

1.      The type of work employees do, and their level of satisfaction in doing it, is the strongest indicator of whether an employee will stay with an organisation. 84% of employees who say they plan on staying with their company for at least the next five years also say they are satisfied with the kind of work they do. This is not only in relation to their jobs, but how their natural skills and talents are being applied in the workplace. Job satisfaction ranks higher than pay or career advancement as a reason for people to remain with the same company.
2.      18% of workers are looking for new jobs in order to improve their work/life balance.  25% of mothers are unhappy with their levels of work/life balance and are actively seeking jobs that will give them the extra flexibility they need – even if it means taking a pay cut.

3.      It costs an average of 2.5 times an employee’s annual salary to replace them if they resign. These costs include recruitment, training, severance costs, lost productivity, customer dissatisfaction, and missed opportunities.

4.      Entrepreneurs say that employee retention is the most critical factor for business success, with 73% of CEOs ranking it as the most important issue.
5.      80% of employee turnover is caused by bad hiring decisions.

6.      One-third of employees feel they need to change jobs every two years to avoid becoming stale. The most popular retention initiative, chosen by 81% of respondents, was new challenges.

7.      32% of employees said they’d leave if they found a new company that could put their skills to good use, while 11% said they’d resign for more flexible working hours.

8.      Adults aged over 50 are more likely to remain working for their current employer if they believe their employer has a high focus on workplace diversity.

9.      41% of HR professionals see the retention of talented employees as their company’s most important HR issue.

10.  The main reason why employees resign from their jobs is because of their direct manager – not job dissatisfaction.

11.  Employers that regularly surveyed their employees twice a year have significantly greater levels of employee retention.

12.  Only 24% of call centre employees say that pay is the main reason for resigning. Instead, 64% said it was a lack of career opportunities while 44% nominated the boring and repetitive nature of the job as a big reason.

13.  Almost half of employers have no formal planning processes or tools in place to capture the knowledge of their retiring Baby Boomers. Only one-third of employers are taking steps to deal with the inevitable loss of talent, such as offering Baby Boomers part-time hours.

14.  Only a quarter of employees feel that their organisations have any loyalty towards their staff. As a result, a mere 56% of employees have any loyalty to their organisations in return.

15.  Companies with clear levels of communication are 20% more likely to report lower levels of employer turnover.

16.  49% of HR Managers don’t know their levels of staff turnover – even with one week’s notice.

17.  25% of workers use their work computer to search for other jobs even though they know their managers monitor their internet use.

18.  Salary and benefits are major reasons that attract candidates to a new job– but it’s not what keeps them there. Instead, the greatest retention factors are: work environment, development and advancement opportunities, involvement in decision-making, challenging work, and managerial concern for employees’ welfare.

19.  Employees who feel that their employers do not treat them with respect are more than three times more likely to resign than employees who are treated respectfully.

20.  87% of employees say that working with a low-performing colleague is enough of a reason to make them want to change jobs.

80% of the issues above relate directly to a lack of understanding of people's Prosperity DNA profile