Staff turnover: causes and solutions

The staff turnover is an index that measures the time that a company's employees remain in their jobs. This data is particularly important for the company's productivity, The low turnover will be a symptom of good performance and, consequently, higher productivity.

While high turnover means that new employees need to be trained more frequently, which negatively affects productivity. 

What is staff turnover?

It is the index that calculates the time that employees or workers remain in a position within a company.. Broadly speaking, the lower the staff turnover, the better the company will perform, since this means that the company in question is able to retaining talent.

And in this way, avoids having to train new employees each time they come in to replace those who have rotated. 

There are two types of employee turnover that should be differentiated. On the one hand, there is the voluntary staff turnover, The employee leaves the job (goes to another company, moves to another sector of work, decides to stay at home, etc.).

On the other hand, there is also the involuntary staff turnover, which occurs when the employee is dismissed from his or her job. 

What high staff turnover means

The specific causes leading to each individual case are secondary. But a high voluntary staff turnover rate is indicating that the company in question does not offer sufficient benefits to retain talent and employees, for example, the flexible remuneration.

Whereas a high rate of involuntary staff turnover is often linked to inadequately trained professionals or managers who are not able to manage their staff properly. 

How it is calculated

It can be calculated in different ways depending on whether you want to calculate the de the whole company, a specific department or a specific job position.

Likewise, this calculation will also depend on the specific period of time over which it is to be made. In either case, the steps to follow are as follows:

1. The number of persons who are working during the calculation period to be known is calculated. That is, the sum of the total number of persons at the beginning and at the end of the period, and divide by 2 to obtain the average. 
2. Next, add up the total number of people who have left the company (or the department you want to calculate) and divide this number by the average number of staff calculated in the first step. 
3. Finally, the result of the previous step is divided by 100, which gives a percentage that will be the turnover rate of the company's staff (or part of the company) in the specific period that has been calculated. 

Causes of and solutions to high staff turnover 

Naturally, there are many different causes and solutions to the problem of high staff turnover in a company.

However, all experts agree that, improving the working conditions of employees, The turnover rate is reduced. This allows companies to be more productive and competitive in all areas and sectors. 

Some of the simplest and most common ways to improve the working conditions of employees are as follows: 

• Direct wage increaseSalary is a key part of employees' perception of their work, so a higher salary often has a positive impact on reducing turnover. 
• Flexible CompensationFlexible Remuneration is a modality that allows employees to convert part of their salary into tickets that can be used for some of their fixed expenses, as for example with Transport Ticket. These tickets are tax exempt, so even if the employee's basic salary remains the same, his or her purchasing power is increased. 
• Improvements in the reconciliation of work and family lifeIf conditions that allow workers to better reconcile work and family life are improved, this will no longer be a cause of increased employee turnover. In this respect, options such as teleworking, more flexible working hours, or solutions such as Childcare Ticket help employees to better manage their work-life balance. 
• Improving the working environmentWork is one of the places where employees spend a large part of their working day, so beyond the financial rewards and social benefits, it is important that it is a place where they feel comfortable and at ease. Investing in improvements that help to create a good working environment (both physical and emotional) helps to reduce the turnover rate in many companies.