Reduce Employee Turnover at Your Small Business

A few of the main causes of employee turnover are poor employee selection, limited growth opportunities, bad decision making, lack of recognition and feedback, overworked employees, and low pay. Some businesses may not be able to give their employees higher pay, but they can make impactful changes that increase retention. Want to reduce employee turnover and make your small business an amazing place to work? Then, check out these 10 easy suggestions from 10 expert business owners.

1. Add the RIGHT People to Your Team

“Hire the right people. Hire employees who not only have the skill and qualifications for the job but who fits in with your company culture. If an employee doesn’t fit in with your work environment, then they won’t be happy or get along with their co-workers. In turn, they won’t stay around long.” — Morgan Lathaen, Marketing & Brand Coordinator, Thumbprint

2. Mentor Employees (Great way to reduce Employee Turnover)

“Focus on development – the on-the-job kind and the kind achieved via mentorship and ongoing feedback. All employees and especially the younger generations crave learning, growth, and development opportunities. They also thrive on feedback and guidance. The best way to keep employees motivated, engaged, and productively contributing is to help them learn fast and continue iterating their skillset and knowledge base as well as growing their network of mentors, advisors, allies, and advocates. Annual, or even quarterly, training ‘events’ will simply no longer cut it in this new paradigm. Employers need to be strategic, intentional, and proactive about offering or supporting informal learning.” — Halelly Azulay, CEO, TalentGrow

3. Offer a Flexible Work Schedule

“When managers implement a flexible work schedule, employees don’t have to make as many sacrifices with their home life. Flexible work schedules make employers happier and more likely to stick around for the simple reason that it makes work that much less of a burden.” — Nate Masterson, CEO, Maple Holistics

4. Always Show Employee Appreciation (excellent way to reduce employee turnover)

“One way to reduce employee turnover is to make it clear to employees they are valued and that they have many opportunities for promotions and growth. If they feel needed and see the opportunity to keep progressing career-wise, they are less likely to leave.”— Stacy Caprio, Founder, Her.CEO

5. Have an Amazing Company Culture

“Build a culture that employee’s feel connected to. When they believe in the mission of the company and what it stands for, their engagement will be retained and their desire to commit to the business will grow. With a strong culture, a connection is built, and work feels more like a community than an office. Constantly encourage your employees to grow, with top talent you want to keep them intrigued, challenged and motivated. When someone becomes bored at work, they will begin to look for other challenges that are likely elsewhere.”— Jared Weitz, CEO, United Capital Source

6. Host Employee Check-Ins (Key to reducing employee turnover)

“One of the things we do to make sure our employees are happy with their work is to ask them if they are currently facing any challenges and what we can do to make their work easier. You would be surprised how much you learn when you give them free rein to explain what they are struggling with and how you can directly help out. You want your team to always feel that they can turn to you for help, no matter what.”— Seth Kravitz, CEO, PHLEARN

7. Give Positive Feedback

“Employees crave more positive feedback than you may think. Use this ratio when giving employee feedback – 5:1. For every 5 positive reinforcements of employee impact, give one constructive.”— Todd Horton, CEO and Founder, KangoGift, Inc.

8. Handout Exit Surveys

“You can use exit surveys to find out exactly why people are leaving and address the root causes of preventable turnover. The key here is preventable. A well-designed survey can identify those reasons so that you don’t waste time trying to reduce turnover that’s non-preventable.” — George Gillies, VP Operations, Insightlink Communications

9. Offer Alternative Promotion Tracks (creative way to reduce employee turnover)

“Sometimes employees mistakenly believe that to advance, they need to go into management. Not everyone is suited to be a manager — so be sure to offer alternative promotion tracks.” — Mark Armstrong, owner, Mark Armstrong Illustration

10. Improve Technology

“An effective way to reduce employee turnover is to upgrade HR technology. Better HR technology, such as for benefits and training, improves employees’ engagement. Bad technology makes employees feel unsupported and frustrated, as they’re forced to waste time working inefficiently.” —Peter Warman, CEO,HR Tech Insights LLC