A report by Hay Group looking at employee churn predicts that global employee turnover levels will not only increase in 2014 (by 12.9% over their 2012 levels), but continue at these high levels over the following four years.  Closer to home, in Australia some 58% of workers believe they will move companies within five years.   This rise in employee movement is driven by a combination of recovering economies, employee dissatisfaction and less volatility in employment markets.

Your business may be glad if employee churn consists of the ‘dead wood’ but often high-performing individuals and core employees walk first, posing a further risk to the organisation.  So, how does this information impact your current retention strategy?  What changes do you need to make to ensure your workforce is motivated to stay?

How to Counter Employee Churn

From analysis of over 5.5 million employee opinion surveys, the report identifies five factors that were shown to be consistent predictors of employee engagement and commitment.  These are:

• Confidence in the organisation and its leadership
• Autonomy
• Opportunity for personal growth & career development
• A supportive work environment
• Appropriate compensation.

Think about these factors as you revise your retention strategy to drive commitment and loyalty from employees, and so manage and reduce your future turnover.