The struggle to hire and maintain top-level talent is an industry-wide concern—low unemployment and high turnover is leading to positions going unfilled and managers struggling to accomplish more with less—all while keeping the talent they have and recruiting to fill positions they need.
A 2018 study found that 59% of employees said they would leave their current position because of a more appealing offer, not because they are seeking an escape from their current employer. This means that employers must stay in touch with employee needs; many of which are as simple as effective communication and positive relationships.
This year, the employee engagement platform, Peakon launched a massive survey that provided both regional and industry insight into what employees would most want to change about their place of employment, and the results were pretty in line with the conversations we are having with leadership in our industry on employee turnover.
Peakon found that an overwhelming majority of employees felt they would benefit from a change in their company’s communication. Employees feel a stronger sense of belonging when there is organizational transparency. The sense of belongin
g translates to higher engagement, productivity and ultimately profitability—and it all stems from focusing on keeping employees in the know.
As a manager, what can you do in 2020 to ensure that your employees feel a sense of belonging and community in your workplace? Is it as simple as hosting monthly staff luncheons to build camaraderie and open lines of communication? Biweekly team catch up calls to check in with staff?
Nurture Employee Manager Relationships
Employees particularly value the relationship they have with their manager. Nearly 2/3 of employees believe that their manager lacked proper managerial training (Hint: we can help with that). Companies looking to retain employees and avoid the high cost of turnover should make it a priority of manager to serve both as mentors to their employees, but also as advocates for their employees when it comes to company policies and procedures.
As a manager, it is your responsibility to foster relationships with your subordinates and not too long ago, we offered steps managers can take to reduce turnover—the most important one being to work to develop your employees.
Location, Location, Location
Have you ever held a meeting in a location other than your conference room? Did you find it was a refreshing change to your everyday routine? In the “gig economy,” providing employees with environments conducive to increasing productivity is crucial to retaining top talent who prefer working for companies with remote work policies and flexible schedules.
At first blush, it seems that offering flexible work locations in an industry such as hospitality may prove challenging, but there are ways you can work flexibility into your work environment-- To eliminate the ‘auto pilot’ that sometimes comes with meetings (where everyone sits in the same chair, by the same person, etc.), move the location of the meeting or the meeting table set up. Consider using an outdoor space for a change of pace. Changing up the meeting location and set up will bring a new perspective to everyone. This could also be used as a great learning opportunity for setting standards about cleanliness and organization in that space.
The bottom line is to listen to your employees—employees who feel their voices are being heard won’t leave for a competitor and are more engaged and productive as a result. Valuing employee communication, manger/subordinate relationships, and workplace flexibility are all things that are low-lift high reward changes.