31 January 2020

Staff turnover: causes and solutions

cardboard box with plant and personal belongings, held by a person, in an office with desks in the background

La 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. 

Table of contents

La rotación de personal se refiere a la tasa a la que los empleados dejan una empresa y son reemplazados. Se puede medir en un período específico, como un año, y se calcula dividiendo el número de empleados que se fueron por el número promedio de empleados durante ese tiempo.

It is the Turnover rate. Broadly speaking, the lower the staff turnover, the better the company will perform, as this means the company in question is capable of 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 it is useful to distinguish. On the one hand, there is Voluntary staff turnover, The employee leaves the job (goes to another company, moves to another sector of work, decides to stay at home, etc.).

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

High staff turnover.

The specific causes that lead to each particular case are secondary. But a high voluntary employee turnover rate indicates that The company in question does not offer enough benefits to retain talent and its workers., for example, the Flexible remuneration.

While a high involuntary staff turnover rate is usually linked to professionals with insufficient training or managers who are unable to correctly manage the staff under their charge. 

How is it 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 time period over which it is to be performed. In any case, the steps to follow are as follows:

  1. The number of people working during the calculation period you want to know is calculated. That is, the total number of people at the beginning and end of the period are added together and divided by 2 to obtain the average. 
  2. The total number of people who have left the company (or the department being calculated) is then added up and this number is divided by the average staff calculated in the first step. 
  3. Finally, the result from the previous step is divided by 100, which allows obtaining a percentage that will be the staff turnover rate of the company (or part of the company) in the specific period that has been calculated. 

Causes and solutions for high staff turnover 

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

However, all experts agree that, improving the working conditions of employees, this rate of turnover can be 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 employees' working conditions are as follows: 

  • Direct wage increaseSalary is a fundamental part of employees' perception of work, so a higher salary usually has a positive impact on reducing staff turnover. 
  • Flexible remunerationFlexible Remuneration is a system that allows employees to convert part of their salary into vouchers that can be used for some of their fixed expenses, such as is the case with Transport Ticket. These tickets are exempt from tax charges, so even if the employee's base salary remains the same, their purchasing power is increased. 
  • Improvements in work-life balance: If the conditions that allow workers to better balance their work and family life are improved, this will cease to be a reason for increasing employee turnover. In this regard, options such as teleworking, more flexible hours, or solutions such as Nursery Ticket help employees better manage their work-life balance. 
  • Improving the working environmentWork is one of the places where employees spend a large part of their day, so, beyond financial compensation and social benefits, it is important that it is a place where they feel happy and comfortable. Investing in improvements that help create a good working environment (both physical and emotional) helps to reduce staff turnover rates in many companies. 
Edenred Spain