Quit Rates Are Rising — What Are You Doing to Retain Your Employees?

March 21, 2022 in HR Best Practices

 

Laurie Hyllberg

Laurie champions Kinsa Group’s position as the top food and beverage recruiting firm in the nation and its presence in the global FMCG marketplace. To her Bachelor of Science in Psychology, Business Management, and Marketing she adds over 20 years of executive search experience in the food and beverage industry at Kinsa. Building a network of executives and professionals through membership in the Women’s Foodservice Forum, Institute of Food Technologists, FaB Wisconsin, Chicagoland Food and Beverage Network, and maintaining professional expertise in recruiting as an Executive Board Member for the Recruiters Of Wisconsin association, Laurie is able to connect top talent in the food industry with food and beverage processors and foodservice providers growing their teams at the C-Suite, VP, Director, and Management level. Connect with Laurie today!

 

No matter the industry you are in, it is well-known that employee quit rates are on the rise.

It’s important to understand why people are quitting and ask what your company is doing to retain employees. Below are the top five reasons executives believe their people are quitting according to a recent survey done by Newland Associates:

Top 5 Reasons Employees Quit

  1. Inflexible work options/hours (32%)
  2. Lack of personal/professional development opportunities (18%)
  3. Stress and/or burnout (18%)
  4. Lack of belief in the leadership team (18%)
  5. Physical health was suffering (17%)

Inflexible Work Options

With many positions, COVID has shown us that employees can be productive when working from home.  If your employees have proven that they can be productive at home when that was mandatory, consider being flexible and offering a hybrid schedule or allowing them to work from home full-time.  Try taking a survey to see what works best for your employees while still ensuring that business needs are met.

Personal/Professional Development Opportunities

As employees leave due to resignation, relocation, retiring, or other reasons, what are you doing to grow the employees you currently have?

  • Are you finding out their strengths/interests or are you concerned more about the current needs of the company?
  • Are you asking about their career interests and really listening to their response?
  • Do you foster the development of their careers by allowing them to take chances in different areas of the company?
  • Have you been recognizing your employees for great effort over the last few challenging months?

Additionally, what “benefits” are you offering besides healthcare and 401(k)?  How about offering extra PTO, free lunches, community service days, just for fun events?

Check out the pros and cons of developing an internal employee to improve retention in Kinsa’s blog post:

The Talent Market Is Tight. Should You Develop An Internal Employee?

Stress and/or Burnout 

Stress and burnout have also been a factor in resignations these last few months.  When employees are working overtime to cover the workload of employees that are out sick or are caring for family members that are sick, stress and burnout can erode their health and passion for their work at your company when it doesn’t seem that there is an end in sight.

Leadership Team 

Next, ask yourself what qualities did your company leadership display during the pandemic?  Did they have the attitude of “we are all in this together” and display that by pitching in wherever and whenever needed?  Or were they letting employees in on the stress they were facing by being reactive and simply demanding that “you need to work more”?  Is Your Company Culture Poised for a Successful Remote Workforce?

Employee Compensation

Lastly, knowing that many employees are looking to change companies due to stagnant compensation, have you considered if you are paying competitively in today’s market?  Don’t wait to offer a raise until an employee gives their resignation notice.  That’s not appreciation — it’s desperation.  In order to remain competitive in attracting top talent and retaining employees, successful companies will be flexible and adapt to market conditions.

Use Kinsa’s Salary Guide (newest version releasing in April 2022) to make sure you are at least at the median salary range and depending on the cost of living in your area, you will want to make sure you are at the higher end if you are in a higher cost of living index.  Candidates can expect to receive a 10% to 15% increase in their base salary when moving to a new company.

Kinsa Group has been a trusted ally for the food and beverage industry for over 35 years and provides remote recruiting support daily across North America. Contact us today for more information on how we can work together to attract top talent – remote or onsite – for your company.

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This blog was written by Kris Binninger, Kinsa Group Account Manager. Connect with her on LinkedIn.