Turnover

jmpmo

Hi everyone. I was wondering if I could get some help with something. My company's turnover is the highest within the first 90 days of employment. I was wondering if any of you do anything "special", other then the normal orientation for new employees, within the first 90 days or longer to make them feel like part of the team? I have heard of some companies that use a mentoring system. If your company uses that, can you give me some idea of the procedures for implementing it and how it works? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Theresa Gegen TX

One thing that some companies have tried with high turnover is to make sure that the employee really understands the job duties (especially if it is a physically difficult job) before being hired and before training. If the employee doesn't understand how tough the job will be and has misconceptions, he or she may quit quickly.

What you need to do though, is identify why the turnover is so high -- then address that issue.

For example, if employees are dissatisfied with pay, then they might need raises or need to know that raises are coming. Or they might just need a better understanding of the company benefits.

If employees are dissatisfied with managment or supervisor, the supervisors might need some training in how to deal with employees concerns, etc.

Good Luck!

jmpmo

Thanks for your help.

Jean

Cxjo

I once joined an organization with a very similar issue; excessive turnover especially within the first several months. As suggested, one of the things we immediately began to do was a more accurate "job preview" -- physically walking applicants through the workstations so they could SEE the jobs being done.

We also spent a lot more time informing applicants about the pay, raises, benefits - everything. So they knew that info right up front.

A structured, behavioral interview process assisted us in making the best hires to begin with.

And, something I found to be very valuable -- I broke apart the New Employee Orientation into two days. Day 1 (day of hire) - the basics we had alwasy done - paperwork, safety and health, tours, videos, meeting people, etc etc. Day 2 (held every other month for all new hires within the last few months - MANDATORY) was much more in depth. 6 hours -- this was when we delved deeply into competencies the organization had developed (4 of them that permeated everything in our culture). The CEO and other senior managers came in and spoke to the group and answered questions. We had "HR FAQ's" and Q&A -- I would preface this section by saying "now is the time to ask ALL the things you want to know and havent learned yet." That type of thing. It was a fun day that went a LOT toward reinforcing our expectations, explaining and demonstrating further the culture of the organization. I think this second day was very important because it got to people while still in that critical time; they were still deciding (some of them) if they "fit" in our organization.

of course, depending on the size of your organization, if HR or the Recruiter can stay in touch with the new employee as the are in their first few months -- THAT is key. Often HR is the first contact for someone at a company and oftentimes the new employee has formed their first bond and connection with someone that they HOPEFULLY will want to continue to interact with (us HR folks). Even a few minutes per week to talk to these new employees makes them continue to feel welcome.

(and yes -- all of this is for naught if the supvs/mgrs are managing poorly -- that was another key area we worked on to bring about great improvements)

jmpmo

Thanks! As far as our corporate culture in general, it is very laid back and relaxed. Someone mentioned using a "buddy" system. If anyone had tried that and has suggestions about pro's and con's to implementing something like that, it would be great to hear.

Paul in Cannon Beach

Are you conducting exit interviews to identify the reasons employees are leaving?

Is there a 3 month pay increase? 3 month evaluation?

Does management communicate the expectation to welcome new employees and make them feel appreciated? I stress that here all the time.

Sometimes when you have a revolving door, current employees will hold back until the person has been there for awhile figuring why be nice to someone and get to know them if there is a good chance they will be gone in two months.

Of course, that is a self-fulfilling prophecy as the new employee feels senses that he or she is not being warmly received by the others which in turn leads to the early exit and so on..

Paul

jmpmo

Yes, we do exit interviews. We do not have a 3 month evaluation, that is a great idea.

Our management is great here. They are very open and easy to talk to here.

I like your idea about current employees. That is why I was wondering if a "buddy" system would work. What do you think?