How Healthy Turnover Can Lead to Long-term Talent Retention

Mike Boufford, CTO, Greenhouse shares, why companies should strive for a ‘healthy’ turnover rate (vs. no turnover) and how it helps long term talent retention. It also explores other benefits of the concept for companies and explains why turnover can be a growth indicator vs. a sign of failure for businesses.

In their quest for recruiting and retaining great talent, employers can miss the silver lining of turnover in their organization. While the estimated $680B in turnover costs by 2020 is not something to celebrate, there are insights to be gained from the process. In fact, aiming for zero regrettable attrition is problematic because it obscures why people leave—and why they stay. For five years, I wore the ‘zero regrettable attrition’ badge of honor only to conclude that turnover is not only necessary, but it’s also useful for a company—and its people.

Realign Talent with Organizational Goals

Let’s face it — not everyone who works at your company today will still be there in five years. Rather than ruminating over the things they could’ve done to convince someone to stay, managers should look at the vacancy as an opportunity to hire talent that’s better suited to current organizational goals. After all, business needs change all the time, and so do skill requirements. 

That doesn’t mean companies should ignore why people leave a company. Knowing where a departing employee is going, and why, can indicate how the company fails to meet employee needs — mainly if multiple people leave from the same organization. Companies should take the information offered in exit interviews and use it to create a better workplace.

At my company, I was able to reverse-engineer how to make Greenhouse a place where employees want to stay by looking at the reasons why people leave. I laid out a strategy to address each of the reasons employees leave in the hope that, over time, I would spend less time recruiting and hiring. In the past seven years, I’ve built a team of 100 engineers, and have only seen a handful of them leave the team. 

Learn More: 5 Reasons Workplace Technology Impacts Recruiting & Retaining TalentOpens a new window

Create Opportunity for Existing Employees

Employee turnover can incite progress. Often, when a leader moves on, employees have the opportunity to step up and shine. They may even demonstrate skills that the organization didn’t previously benefit from, which is why giving those employees the tools to succeed and grow into a new role is doubly important.

Most candidates cite professional growth as a top job criterion, so it’s crucial to provide growth opportunities, even when it’s complicated. In fact, over 40% of employeesOpens a new window  say they left their previous company because they felt their career paths had been stifled. And while companies can be tempted to prioritize rapid business growth over professional development, they may find that those employees won’t be there when business growth slows.

Building a Culture of Respect

According to recent statistics, employees are 26%Opens a new window  more likely to leave their jobs if they feel a lack of respect among colleagues. The onus is on leadership to establish a culture of equality and respect. If there’s a healthy, respectful environment, most new employees will pick up on that and automatically adapt, which is why prioritizing a tone rooted in respect should be a leadership imperative in any workplace.

Learn More: How Utilities Can Attract and Retain Young TalentOpens a new window

Embrace Turnover as a Tool

Turnover is not to be feared. It is a tool organization can use to optimize their employee experience and become better because of it. Not only is it natural, but it can also act as a bellwether to help businesses understand their employees’ needs over time. Companies who pursue retention at any cost will lose out in the long run. When you know why people are leaving, you can adjust your culture, hiring practices, and professional growth opportunities to ensure more of the right talent will want to stay put.

Do you have best practices to follow for the healthy employee turnover? Tell us on FacebookOpens a new window , LinkedInOpens a new window , or TwitterOpens a new window .