Decreasing Employee Turnover

November 19,
2015
Professor
Duhaime

Dominic Librandi
Management & Organizational
Behavior
In todays society finding employees who will buy into the
philosophy of the company and work toward goals set by management
while reducing staff turn over can be every difficult. Being an
entrepreneur you worry about staying ahead of the competition and
always look for more efficient ways to run the business. Throughout
this course I have been interested in finding ways to decrease
employee turn over and ways to have employees believe that they are
working at the company for more than just a paycheck.
Most companies frown upon employee turnover because it can
be very costly. Losing an employee is very costly to the company it
doesnt matter if they quit of it they are being fired. When hiring a
replacement employee you have to factor in the amount of time you
will be spending on interviewing and screening possible candidates.
The company also looses money due to the decrease of productivity as
a result of employee turnover. Depending on how long it takes to find a
replacement the open position can cause a backlog of work, and
possible disorganization. When you finally hire a replacement you
must orient and train them for their position. During this time you also
share the goals and objectives of the company and their job
responsibilities.
There are three types of turn over, seasonal turnover, planned
turn over and mass exodus. Seasonal turnover is when you routinely

see employees leaving at certain points throughout the year, such as

the end of August and beginning of September many of your
employees may be students which means that they will be heading
back off to school. Another example of seasonal turnover is after the
holidays when many retailers terminate some employees. Planned
turn over can occur when an employee is replaced as a result of
technological advances and the employee is no longer needed. This
type of turnover is beneficial to the company because it usually leads
to higher productivity. Planned turnover can also be the result of an
employee who establishes and proves himself or herself so that he or
she move up to the a higher position within the company. This is never
a bad thing however can require you to hire a replacement. Mass
exodus can be very difficult for an organization. This occurs when a
large number of employees decide to leave the organization at the
same time. This could be due to a labor dispute, unionization or
disagreement with management staff.
Considering all of the factors above it is evident as to why
companies would want to decrease their turn over. My question is,
what can companies do to decrease their turn over and how can they
get employees to believe in the goals of the company? Giving time off,
raises and other incentives is always great however there is only so
much money, so much time off, and so many promotions you can give
that are reasonable.

In order to decrease turnover management has to evaluate what

is causing the employees to leave. One thing that may be seen, as
common sense however is key to decreasing turnover is to find out
why employees are leaving. Is it the atmosphere, management, or
unsatisfactory benefits? There must be something driving your
employees away. In order to stop the turnover it is imperative to find
where the difficulty lies. I would strengthen the relationship between
the company and the employee.
Employees want to feel as if they are doing something
meaningful and are able to make a difference no matter what their job
responsibly may be. Whether its something small or something on a
larger scale. It is important for you (the manager) to ensure they feel
valued and an important member of the company. Their performance
will be much more consistent and their will have some job satisfaction.
If the employee feels as if they play a part in the company they will be
more likely to put in good performance and not feel a need to leave the
company.
Employee Recognition is something that is not only rewarding
but also motivating and can greatly boost employee moral. Allowing
employees to vote on their co-workers for a title such as Employee of
The Month is something many companies have started to participate
in and most find enjoyable. This boosts the employees motivation for
reaching their goals and objectives.

Setting expectations with all employees including managers is a

vital role in the success of the company. Giving employees the tools,
setting expectations, and holding them accountable is critical for
reducing turnover within the company.
By giving employees the opportunity to grow within the
company will lead to better performance and better moral. It would
reduce the chance of an employee leaving to work else where because
of a lack of opportunity. With that being said, as the manager you
should get to know your employees. Find out any of their aspirations,
motivations and as well as any skills or characteristics that they may
benefit the company. You should also know of what each employees
long-term and short-term goals. For example if you have an employee
who shows great leadership, critical thinking skills and is highly
productive you may consider him for a future promotion as positions
become available. Knowing that there are opportunities within the
company will reduce turnover.
Having employees feel ask if they are working at the company
for more than just a paycheck can be very difficult to accomplish.
Every company attracts and repels people for various reasons and
thats something you cannot do anything about. After all, you dont
want someone who doesnt embrace your company and what your
company does working for you. Creating a clear vision so that they
may decide whether they wish to embrace your company or not, if you

do not do this your company will have no vision. Providing your

employees with the confidence, respect, support, and the opportunity
to share their ideas and concerns are all ways, which employees will
feel that they are not just working for a paycheck but also working
because they want to be at your company and feel as if they are apart
of your company.
Management must make each employee feel valued and
appreciated going out of your way for an employee will make them feel
that management cares and is concerned about them. If someone is
having troubles with time management or organization sit down go
over tips and tricks to stay organized and ways that they can manage
their time better. If the employee has difficulty meeting deadlines,
providing assistance and addressing the issue will hopefully correct the
problem and eliminate future disciplinary action. If not addressed it will
lead to poor productivity and frustration from other employees working
with this individual.
Rewarding employees is one way you can almost never go
wrong. It shows the employee you appreciate their hard work. By
showing staff appreciation such as ordering jackets for all employees,
having a luncheon or dinner, or going on a company outing are ways,
which a manager can show appreciation, improve team work and
encourage a sense of camaraderie among each other. Its simple things

like these that can make all the difference between managers, coworkers, and the setting of the workplace.
One important thing to consider is to cut employees loose
when they do not workout, yes you are trying to decrease your
turnover however some turnover can be good. You as the manager can
only do so much guiding, re-training, and coaching. Sometimes, no
matter what you may do, he employees bad habits and unethical work
efforts may warrant dismissal. At this point it may be necessary to
terminate the employee. Reducing the stress and aggravation endured
by everyone. In a case like this by not making a decision to terminate it
can be more harmful to the work environment.
An example of improving employee moral is on the campus here
at Nichols there are certain Fridays on which staff and faculty can
participate in Denim Days. On Denim Days the faculty and staff pay
$5.00, which is donated, to different charities and in return that staff or
faculty member may wear jeans for the day. Nora Cavic an Academic
Advisor here at Nichols, informed me about this great incentive with
great enthusiasm and excitement. With this in mind I think that this is
a great incentive that not only creates a fun work environment but also
gives something for the employees to look forward to, judging by her
information she enjoys it.
I went to a private elementary school, during my time at the
school we also did something similar to this where we paid either a

dollar to five dollars and we could participate in a Jeans Day or

Dress Down Day, depending on what was decided we could either
wear jeans or something more casual instead of wearing out uniforms.
This took place once a month and was something that all of my fellow
classmates and other students looked forward to, some students would
even count down the days until it was coming up next. All of the
money was also donated to local charities. This day was a day no
student wanted to miss, I remember having a doctors appointment and
having the option of going home after or going to school and I chose
going to school just because it was Jeans Day. This was also a great
way for our school to create tighter connections throughout the
community. I find this to be beneficial to not only the employees, but
also to the companys public relations and it can better the community.
After participating in this class and taking what I have learned
from not only this class but also all of my other classes I have
discovered that everything goes back to the leadership of the
company. Here at Nichols we discover what it takes to be a great
leader, from our Lead 101 class to working with our peer education
groups in Management and Organizational Behavior we become
leaders.
By proper and effective training employees will work to their
potential and toward the goals of the company meeting the goals of
the company. If a companys training programs are inconsistent and

unfocused it may lead to the poor productivity of employees, which

can create difficulty when holding them accountable. Holding
employees accountable is imperative; an employee must know the
rules and expectations of their job responsibilities. When there is
confusion in these areas turnover is likely to occur, inevitably you will
have some employees working harder than others, which is bad for
moral. Communication will be poor and there will be a sense of
disconnect between all departments.
In a company the leadership team or leader (the manager) must
provide the employees with the tools to be successful. Expectations
must be set and employees held accountable. You must be willing got
invest in the management staff, ensuring that they are productive and
competent. Their actions will trickle down to the employees that they
supervise hopefully creating an environment that is conducive to the
success of the organization. Will ensure that the employees they
supervise are working just as hard.
A leadership team is typically a group of administrators,
teachers, and other staff members who make important governance
decisions in a company and or who lead and coordinate companyimprovement initiatives. My dads company has a leadership team. This
team consists of each department head, this team can be seen as a
management task force, they make company decisions together,
implement new policies, hold town meetings with employees to hear

their opinions and get their feedback on certain topics, conduct job
searches, and also handle disciplinary action meetings with employees
who may need redirection or retraining. Witnessing this leadership
team first hand has me to believe this is by far a great way to continue
company success with its clients and hold and create strong
relationships with employees and their managers.
Teamwork also plays a large part in organizations; they give a
sense of belonging. It does not matter if you have a job at McDonalds
serving burgers or a job at an accounting firm you will have to work
with your co-workers to achieve your common goals. There are two
common types of teams, which are functional and cross-, functional. A
functional team is composed of a manger and his or her subordinates
in the formal chain of command. Sometimes called a command team,
the functional team in some cases may include three or four levels or
hierarchy within a functional department. Typically the team includes a
single department in an organization. An example from the textbook
is A financial analysis department, a quality control department, an
engineering department, and a human resource department are all
functional teams. Each is created by the organization to attain specific
goals through members joint activities and interactions (Richard L
Daft, Management, page 625). After reading this quote I realized that
these departments are all departments which students here at Nichols
are interested in working, which makes me think if one of us will one

day be apart of a functional team. To me this seems to be the most

effective team due to the fact that it is working within your department
so you are not being pulled away from your job to work with your team
on something not within your department.
A cross-functional team is composed of employees from about
the same hierarchical level, but from different areas of expertise. One
type of cross functional tea is a taskforce, which is a group of
employees from different departments formed to deal with a specific
activity and existing only until the task is completed (Richard L Daft,
Management, page 625). To me this seems to be a great way to get
insights from other departments and since you are working with
employees who hold the same authority I see this as a leadership
team which is something I think every company should have since it
is a way for all departments to keep communication channels open.
Understanding how to communicate with your team is crucial to
being successful. In the textbook, it says, Communication is not just
for conveying information, but also for persuading and influencing
people. Although communication skills have always been important to
managers, the ability to persuade and influence others is even more
critical (Richard L. Daft, Management page 596). There are several
ways to practice your skills on persuasion, first is to establish your
credibility, being credible is based on your knowledge, expertise and
interpersonal skills. If youre not credible not many people are going to

believe in you or what you have to say. Communicating with candor

means being direct, honest, and clear about what employees need to
do to met their objectives, while expressing respect for others and not
making people feel slighted, controlled, or exploited. (Richard L Daft,
Management, page 597). When speaking with candor it is important to
stick to the facts instead of giving judgments, and to keep the focus on
the specific topic that you wish to cover. I think that more people
should focus on this approach because many times people can get off
topic and for an employee who has objectives to meet it is important
that he or she stay on task. When speaking with candor you also create
an open communication climate which many people find helpful
when working together.
Many people hate being asked questions in large audiences or
try to avoid questions all together however, Asking questions builds
trust, and also creates openness between managers and employees
Questions stimulate the mind and give people a chance to make a
difference (Richard L Daft, Management, page 598). When
managers ask questions it gets employees to accept responsibility for
solving their own problems, and also increases the chances of holding
themselves accountable for their actions. When asking questions you
are also opening a communication channel allowing for a more clear
understanding of the topic.

Out of all the communication styles, listening is critical.

Successful management depends on listening however it tends to be
rare among many managers in todays society. Listening involves the
skill of grasping both facts and feelings to interpret a messages
genuine meaning. Only then can a manager provide the appropriate
response. Listening requires attention, energy, and skill. (Richard L
Daft, Management, page 589). According to our textbook, about 75%
of effective communication is listening while most people spend an
average of 30% - 40% of their time listening leading to communication
errors. Ensuring that employees feel that their voices are being heard
and opinions matter is imperative. If you do not listen to your
employees they will go off to find someone who will.
An employees feedback is something that a good manager
should never turndown. Feedback occurs when the employee
responds to a mangers communication with a return message.
Listening to their feedback is one thing but implementing their
feedback is another. By implementing their feedback you are showing
that you care, and you are actually listening to them. Just by taking
their suggestions and making the slightest changes can change the
climate of the workplace.

Closing Thoughts

I have gained an enormous about of knowledge from the lessons

in this course. I have never looked deep into the way managers and
leaders act, react, think, communicate, set goals and reach their goals.
I also never really thought in depth about how to treat employees
which is why I chose to write about this topic. I never thought about
why it mattered how they were treated, or how the work environment
could affect their productivity. I always knew they should be treated
with some level of respect and should be appreciated but I didnt know
why. After doing research and taking what I have learned from class I
was able to put this paper together and gain a much better
understanding of what it takes to run an effective and efficient
company but to also understand how to be an effective manager. This
assignment added great value to my knowledge of what it takes to
become a leader and what obstacles I may face in my future I now
have an idea of how I might approach those obstacles as well.
For future classes I would suggest either assigning groups or give
an alternate project for students who wish to work alone. However I
feel that by doing this assignment alone I was able to understand my
topic completely since I did not have a partner I did all of my research
by myself which definitely did benefit me because I was not able to
delegate the work load with another person.

Work Cited:

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How to Reduce Employee Turnover. (n.d.). Retrieved November 10,
2015, from http://guides.wsj.com/management/recruiting-hiring-andfiring/how-to-reduce-employee-turnover/
Clark, D. (n.d.). 10 Ways to Reduce Employee Turnover. Retrieved
November 11, 2015, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dorieclark/reduce-employee-turnover_b_3875366.html
Employee Recognition Appreciation Award Ideas. (n.d.). Retrieved
November 16, 2015, from
http://www.washington.edu/admin/hr/roles/mgr/ee-recognition/awardideas
Madigan, T. (2015, September 24). Importance Of Effective Employee
Feedback. Retrieved November 15, 2015, from
https://thevisionlab.com/blog/feedback/the-importance-of-effectiveemployee-feedback/
Daft, R. (n.d.). Management (Twelfth ed.).