Hiring people has always been a part of an employer’s job. Unfortunately, employee turnover is becoming a bigger problem for employers as the cost of replacing workers continues to skyrocket. There’s also a growing problem of “ghosting”, when potential employees accept a job and don’t show up or quit their job without telling anyone. Bosses may not even realize an employee or potential hire or former employee has ghosted until multiple failed attempts at contact or days of no-shows. Employees have more jobs to choose from these days thanks to a stronger job market. People are also leaving their jobs for an increase in pay, a chance to advance their career, or because they want more or better benefits. In 2018, one out of every four employees left their job. Over ¾ of that turnover could have been prevented by employers.
When an employee leaves, replacing them takes a lot of time and money. Even a company such as McDonald’s, which has new employees all the time, can still incur huge costs to replace employees, and that’s if they can find replacements at all. Replacing an employee can cost at least ⅙ of what their salary was, and the cost to replace a $10 an hour employee can cost more than $4000. When people leave, companies pay for recruiting, which also takes time, onboarding, training, productivity, and customer service.
So to avoid turnover, companies are investing in their workers by increasing benefits and providing better wellness programs. Companies are now realizing that with all the incentive of other opportunities and the ease to just leave, they need to step up their game in keeping their employees. Companies that have higher levels of wellbeing, whether it be clinical health, workplace culture, or support systems in the office, have upwards of 2 times employee engagement.
Employees want well-rounded benefits, such as financial benefits as more than half of employees believe their employer has at least some responsibility for their financial wellbeing. In fact, 32% of U.S. employers said learning opportunities are critical to maintaining workplace satisfaction. What’s more, Millennials say they would take a $7600 pay cut for improved workplace perks, such as career development and improved company culture.
Though all of these may seem like a lot to demand from employers, some companies are already taking on the challenge of providing all of these workplace perks and benefits. Different generations want different things in the workplace, which poses an additional challenge for employers. Millennials want more flexible work opportunities and mentoring programs, Gen Xers want childcare options, and Baby Boomers want retirement coaching, savings programs, and long term care insurance. So regardless of who, everyone seems to agree that better workplace perks and benefits contribute to a better workplace culture overall.
Is your company prepared to do a benefits checkup and determine how best to keep employees in place? Find out what turnover is doing to businesses, how they are dealing with it, and how this problem could get better here.
