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How to Reduce The Loss of Productivity That Comes with High Turnover Rates

Musical chairs may have been fun to play as a kid, but it's no game in an office environment. To keep a business running smoothly and productively, you want every seat you fill to stay filled. When employees move to other departments or businesses, you lose.

The costs of finding and training new employees are high, especially for a skilled position like those common to the semiconductor industry. A study by the Center for American Progress found the average cost of replacing a salaried worker in a skilled position to be around 20% of the annual salary. For those in higher-level positions the cost goes up.

That's money most managers and business owners can agree would be better spent paying an employee that's already been hired to do productive work.

5 Reasons Employees Leave (and What to Do About Them)

The first hurdle to reducing the costs of employee turnover is to understand why employees leave and what you can do to convince them to stay.

1. They find a position that offers more money.

This is the most obvious and common reason employees leave one job for another. Money's a powerful motivation.

The solution to this reason is straightforward (if not always easy to manage): pay more. If your company is spending much less on your employees than is common in the industry, the best of your workers will get wooed away to other companies. It's only a matter of time.

Know what's normal and figure out what salaries to offer accordingly. The United States Department of Labor makes numbers readily available on what people regularly make in different positions: here's what's normal for semiconductor processors and electrical engineers. Make sure the salaries you provide don't dip much below those numbers.

Money matters, but it's not the most important thing to all employees. For some, the ability to have more flexible hours, the option of telecommuting, or an in-office lifestyle that's a better fit for their interests and values can trump salary considerations.

There are two possible approaches to avoiding turnover in this category:

Any company that makes an effort to ensure that employees are happy with the workplace environment and their working options will have an easier time keeping the employees they've already got.

3. They find an opportunity that allows them to work with new, exciting technology.

When you're courting engineers and semiconductor professionals, the work itself matters too. If the work they do for you is dull and another company comes around offering something newer or more exciting, the appeal of gaining that new experience could outweigh all other factors.

Many of the best candidates in the semiconductor industry are passionate about the work they do. They don't just want to show up for work each day to earn that paycheck. They want to care about what they're doing.

To keep these employees, you have to be willing to take risks. If there's a new technology or technique that may fail, but could become something revolutionary if it succeeds, give your talented staff the opportunity to try it and be on the cutting edge. Encourage them to bring in ideas and suggestions for new projects to consider, and listen.

4. They retire.

When a good employee's put in the years and is ready to go, there's not a lot you can do about it. Retirees have earned their rest.

Some employees who really love the work they do won't be content to walk away entirely though. If you're willing to be flexible and offer part-time positions or consulting opportunities for retired employees, you may be able to continue to benefit from their expertise and skill for a while longer.

5. They find a different position within the same company that offers more money or otherwise seems like a good fit.

While it leaves one department with a challenge, this scenario isn't entirely a loss. As long as an employee's still internal, there's a chance to continue turning to him or her as a resource.

If you foster a community culture in which different departments are happy working together, any department that loses employees to another can still have access to them in the training process or if a challenge arises that they're best suited to respond to.

You can't keep every new hire for as long as you hope to, but you can work to make sure you're providing attractive opportunities and a positive work environment that will make most happy to stay. The costs involved in keeping your employees satisfied will usually be a better value than the cost of finding someone new.

There will always be cases of attrition and a manager needs to be prepared to fill open positions. Talent 101 can source candidates for positions in the future and have resources ready to place as soon as positions become available.