With employee attrition making waves in the world of HR, conversation starters around addressing this topic have been making their rounds in HR blogs and forums. What is employee attrition really? It is the process of workers leaving a company for voluntary or involuntary reasons, without being immediately replaced. Sometimes employee attrition can be due to a hiring freeze, at other times, there could be deeper issues at play. However, whatever the cause of employee attrition, there’s one inevitable result: the company’s workforce shrinks in size.
Although employee attrition and employee turnover are often used interchangeably, there’s one critical difference between the two terms and that is: what happens after an employee departs. In the case of employee attrition, when an employee leaves, their position is eliminated, or it remains unfilled. With employee turnover, the company replaces the departing employee keeping the size of its workforce the same.
[1]The labour shortage is a real problem within many industries today. But it’s not a matter of finding people, it’s a matter of ensuring the people stay in the job and positive company culture is the foundation of employee satisfaction. While pizza parties, snacks, games in the break room are good things to have, they cannot make up for a toxic work culture or rigid and outdated work systems.
Employees are looking for more than monetary benefits in a job. They want support, they want empathy, they want flexibility, and they want motivation from management. The list may seem endless but it’s easy to get it right if you have the know-how. And as every HR professional will tell you, it’s cheaper to retain the staff you have than hire a new employee.
Ultimately, how is company culture defined? There are many facets to a company. Collectively it’s systems, processes, employees, leaders, and an ethos that unites them all. Three of the central components that shape employee happiness include opportunity, appreciation, and well-being.
Opportunity entails providing employees with the means to develop skills, and to continue with ay plan for further education to improve themselves. Appreciation happens when routine acknowledgement for effort and hard work takes place within the workplace. Well-being comes from looking out for the physical and psychological health of employees, as well as fostering a healthy work-life balance.
When a company builds a solid foundation for its’ employees and executes a strategy to create an employee-centred culture; it only stands to gain from investing into its people. Research by Deloitte[2] has shown that 94% of executives and 88% of employees believe a distinct corporate culture is important to a business’ success. Deloitte’s survey also found that 76% of these employees believed that a clearly defined business strategy helped create a positive culture.
A positive culture in the workplace is essential for fostering a sense of pride and ownership among employees. When people take pride in their work, they invest their future in the organization and work hard to create opportunities that will benefit the organization wholistically. By identifying and rewarding those who are actively striving towards creating a positive work culture and supporting others around them; companies can encourage others to do the same. Ultimately, positive attitudes and behaviour in the workplace are the direct results of effective leadership and a positive management style.
[1] Major expansion of Green List to help fill labour shortages | Beehive.govt.nz
