Dive Brief:
- Employee turnover impacts company performance profoundly in the telecom; pharmaceutical; business services; software and internet; aerospace and defense; auto manufacturing; and media and creative industries, according to research from ENGAGE Talent. It also impacts select areas of the financial services industry, its research found.
- Among financial services, healthcare and tech workers, financial services employees were most likely to change jobs within 90 days of starting a new job, ENGAGE said. Healthcare workers are less likely to change jobs, it continued.
- Potential for growth is the most important concern for employees in these three sectors, and healthcare workers place especially high worth on promotional opportunities. Tech industry professionals ranked positive environment lowest on its list of priorities, while healthcare workers valued it more highly, ENGAGE said.
Dive Insight:
Turnover is costly to organizations — monetarily, in productivity and in workplace morale. Employers know they must find ways to attract talent and encourage workers to stay onboard, but contrary to popular belief, money isn't the only way to prevent turnover. A recent PayScale report found that while more money is still the main reason people give for leaving their job, nearly one-third of those respondents found meaningful work just as valuable when they weigh accepting a job offer.
More money or meaning and better benefits can drive turnover, but HR leaders might need to look deeper into the less apparent causes of high turnover. Experts in employment and mental health have identified stress and burnout as factors that can cause employees to quit their jobs. A 2018 University of Phoenix's Job Burnout Poll found that 86% of respondents connected burnout to job satisfaction, which underscores the probability that workers who are burned out or unhappy are likely to look for work elsewhere.
HR Leaders can help ease the adverse effects of stress, burnout and fatigue by offering employee assistance programs or well-being initiatives and providing tools and resources to help them regain their health and productivity.
