It’s a convenient excuse, certainly, but one that isn’t true. In fact, it’s been statistically proven that employees today stay longer with a company as compared to decades before. In 1983, for instance, the average time an employee stayed in a company was 3.5 years. Today, that number is much higher. So if you’re still blaming those ‘job-hopping Millennials’, you’re way off the mark.
Is it the money?
Surprisingly, it isn’t. In fact, a study conducted by Hays in 2017 found the opposite to be true. Many people—a whopping 71%–would actually accept a pay cut if it meant finding a ‘better job. Employers that tended to just ‘throw money at the problem’ actually risk alienating people right out the door of their business. So what is it? That’s a question closely tied to, again, why people leave to begin with.
1 – It’s a cultural thing.
The prime reason that many good employees leave is because of your company culture. When you talk about culture, this refers to having an atmosphere of open communication, work-life balance, and strong leadership primarily. So, no, it isn’t just about having “free lunches” and “team outings” as good as those things are to have.
You want to make your employees feel that you have a firm grasp of things. Strong leaders are those who have a clear vision for the future, a realistic attitude towards achieving that vision, and decisiveness. You then need to pair all these with an environment that truly values not only their opinions, but their lives beyond work as well.
2 – It’s a trust thing.
Another thing that employees take issue with is whether or not you trust them. You might already know that trust isn’t simply a statement. What you might not know is that it’s actually a very long-term commitment. It begins with the freedom that you give your people to pursue their goals within the demands of their roles. It needs, however, to continue with true autonomy day in and day out.
The biggest threat to that autonomy and, consequently, trust is micromanagement. You might think that what you’re doing is merely providing ‘nudges in the right direction, but many employees find this practice very strangling. More to the point, it makes employees feel that you don’t trust them to do their job well. That erodes self-confidence and can push good people away.
3 – It’s a flexibility thing.
Remote work is the future, today. With technology, today up to the task of equalizing the quality of remote and in-office work, more and more employees are seeing the viability of this option—and questioning why it isn’t available to them. The common argument that it ‘destroys’ productivity has already been proven to be a complete falsehood—by a Stanford study no less.
Is it any wonder, then, that up to 82% of employees consider flexibility to be a reason to stay? If you aren’t offering the chance to work from home at least part-time, you stand a good chance of having 37-62% of employees tempted away by companies that do offer this flexibility. The jury is in on this one: remote is the way to go and there are fewer and fewer roles that can’t be done remotely.
So, what does it cost you?
If you had a business with over 500 employees and an average annual turnover of 90 employees, the loss amounts to $3 million USD. It might seem like an overblown figure until you break each loss down to its key components.
Recruitment Costs
These costs are defined as what you spend to get qualified hires from the moment that you post a job to the point where you onboard them. While those are the main components of it, you could also factor in what you lose actively with the departure of the talent you’re replacing. These costs are only mitigated by the expediency by which you find a replacement.
Even with the staggering number of options available for job postings, you’re looking at a lot of waiting. You see, even if you spend to get a posting everywhere, there’s no guarantee that everyone who responds to the posting is actually qualified. You then need to set up interviews of several tiers, testing, and—when that’s done—they have to find your offer appealing enough to accept.
Onboarding Costs
Even the most qualified of hires isn’t just going to take to their new job that quickly. There is that inevitable honeymoon phase where hopes are high but the output is still furtive and evolving. In the meantime, whatever needs that role met can still go unmet to a degree that you’ll find satisfactory. This period can be very trying and potentially is very volatile.
This domino effect is further exacerbated if a good employee leaves under bad circumstances. With the prevalence of social media, it’s ridiculously easy to leave a review of your company and business that damages you—and costs you even more overall. No matter how you cut it, losing people is very costly.
A Better Solution
The most obvious solution to the problem of attrition is actually fairly obvious: change your company up. It seems like a simple thing to do, but the devil is in the details. Not only does this solution require a complete paradigm shift, but it might also require costly measures to be implemented. For a company that might already be wrestling with costs brought about by the loss of employees, this isn’t a solution that’s ideal.
Surprisingly, a better way to go is to look far afield. Remote outsourcing is another modern business trend that is gaining both traction and viability these past few years. Quite simply, it’s hiring people to remotely fill key tasks for your job. Think back to the reasons why people leave to begin with. It makes perfect sense to go for this solution.
Do Away With Top Talent Attrition…
Remote outsourcing allows you to focus on what matters the most. You fill key job roles with the right kind of people. Right off the bat, you’re getting people who love what they’re doing. They work from home, avoid the stress of the commute, and enjoy a work-life balance. Provided you get the right partner in outsourcing, you’re also getting talent that’s well adapted to the rigors of this setup.
Additionally, questions of culture are already addressed given that many remote outsourcing setups already have an embedded, functional culture of their own that their talent already thrives in. Really, the only thing that you need to work on when it comes to going for remote outsourcing is that matter of trust which isn’t a big issue if you partner with a remote outsourcing company that provides clear and transparent access to productivity tools by which you can monitor performance.
…And Reduce Your Costs Altogether!
Perhaps one of the most appealing aspects of this particular solution is the overall savings you enjoy. First and foremost, you do away with both the time and money spent on recruitment. You usually simply have to match and evaluate talent from an already existing pool. Second, and one that most people don’t realize, is that you don’t have to invest in a lot of overhead expenses. Working with a remote team means no expenses for office space rental, no investment in equipment, and significantly lower spending on compensation.
CrewBloom is the Right Partner
We are a remote outsourcing company that is built on a foundation of trust in the outsourcing model. All the key roles in our company are filled by top Filipino talent that works out of their homes. Not only has this proven to be an effective way to grow, but it has also afforded us a great deal of savings from no overhead costs. This we pass on to our client-partners for up to 70% savings on their end.
If you’re interested in reducing the costs of what you would normally spend to get the best people for your company’s key roles, hop on a quick call with us! Or you can send us an email at [email protected]. We’ll be more than happy to talk to you about how you can achieve your growth goals today.
