Employee Turnover: Don’t let your best people walk out the door

With employee turnover at 62.6% for the industry, the hiring treadmill can often feel like the main job of running a restaurant or retail store. Studies have shown that this turnover is affecting your bottom-line, not just your time.  Between hiring, training, and lost productivity, industry analysts have estimated the cost of replacing an entry-level cashier is a staggering $2,286.

Employees may always come and go, but you do have some control over how long they stay with you. Similar studies have shown that two-thirds of employee turnover is due to reasons that are easily avoidable. Here are some effective ways Homebase customers are retaining their best talent.

Recognizing employee performance

Busy days and changing schedules often push positive feedback to the background. During these times it can be easy to focus on the problems without recognizing accomplishments. Don’t assume your employees know you think they’re doing a good job. Positive encouragement can lead to higher satisfaction in every role—and costs nothing!

Set aside time to evaluate performance, and make sure that both positive results and improvements are highlighted.  This has the dual benefit of reinforcing the performance and providing recognition before they seek it elsewhere.

Engaging during discussions

Employees often feel that upward mobility requires moving to a new job, but frequently this is because they can’t see the path at their current job.  Having open discussions about promotions, responsibilities, and timelines can let your employees know opportunities exist.  Even if you can’t offer them higher pay or an immediate new position, there are still opportunities for discussion. Let them know that you care about their future.

Bringing the fun

We’ve all had a case of the Mondays. Some days fee like they run into one another. Without a break from regular routine will most likely seek out more exciting places to work. Of course, keeping lights on is the top priority. You can still add some fun to the work week, though. Shake up the workplace dynamic:

• Add social events for employee bonding or after busy periods
• Team contests can reward business goals. Recognition for the most upsells, for example
• Friendly competition to everyday activities

Giving employees schedule flexibility

Approximate 28% of restaurant employees are enrolled in school. Add on family responsibilities and second jobs, and you’ve got a lot of employees that have a tough time balancing multiple schedules.  By providing flexibility in weekly scheduling, reducing on-call shifts, and accommodating shift-trades, showing up for work will be the easiest part of your employees’ lives.

Properly training shift leads and managers are trained

There is a saying that people don’t quit jobs, they quit bosses. As your business and team grows, managing everyone on your team directly becomes impossible and more employees might show signs they’re about to quit. First, make sure that every manager on your team knows that retaining great employees is important.  Second, give them the tools to be successful managers.The free tools of Homebase:

• Timeclock
• Timesheets
• Employee Scheduling

cut down the time spent shuffling paperwork so your managers can focus on training and retaining great employees.

How do you keep your employees happy? Let us know @joinhomebase.