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A new study from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) offers budget-friendly suggestions for how HR professionals can improve employee retention.
The report was based on a survey done on more than 1,500 U.S. HR professionals. It identifies five key reasons for employee turnover, which are:
- Inadequate total compensation (listed as the top reason for employee departure by 39% of survey respondents, and one of the top three reasons by 74% of respondents)
- Lack of career development and advancement (top reason for 21% of respondents; top three for 61%)
- Lack of workplace flexibility (top reason for 13% of respondents; top three for 43%)
- Unsustainable work expectations (top reason for 6% of respondents; top three for 30%)
- Uncaring and uninspiring leaders (top reason for 9% of respondents; top three for 26%)
For each of these issues, the report suggests how HR professionals can improve employee retention. For instance, in the case of inadequate compensation, HR professionals likely don't have the budget to improve salaries 8% to 10% as most say is necessary. But they can share total rewards statements with employees, which can give workers a better sense of how their compensation stacks up outside their salaries alone.
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Likewise, the report suggests that increasing the number of internal promotions as well as awareness of those promotions can demonstrate opportunities for career advancement within the company, addressing concerns about a lack of career development.
For other issues, more substantial internal changes may be in order. For example, the report suggests that organizations losing workers because of a lack of flexibility customize scheduling and working requirements for each to find what's best for them.
For problems surrounding unsustainable work expectations, the report suggests analyzing employees' responsibilities to identify any unnecessary tasks that can be eliminated. And when the retention issues come from uninspiring leadership, the report authors recommend setting clear metrics for leaders so they can be more easily evaluated and held accountable.
According to Mark Smith, the director of HR thought leadership at the SHRM Research Institute, the first step for any individual HR professional looking to boost retention is to figure out why employees are leaving their particular organization. "They can then benchmark those reasons and their available budget against the nationwide data and identify strategic solutions to create better workplaces," he says in a press release.
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