It has been a reality for several years, there is a lack of manpower. Managers and organizations are facing several challenges related to high staff turnover:
- Retaining a volatile workforce
- Mobilizing different generations
- Managing work overload and the impact on available time
- Dealing with a lack of time to train
- Adapt to a high rate of absenteeism.
Do these examples resonate with you?
- This morning, you are missing half of your staff. You have to deal with a break in service.
- Your team is made up mostly of employees who are new or have little seniority.
- You can’t recruit and you really wonder how you’re going to do it!
This article presents three strategies for how to better deal with high employee turnover.
(If you want the rest of the article in video version, click below!)
Here are some facts first:
- Employee movement is expensive for companies
Hiring, training and replacing an employee is expensive for companies. Much more expensive than implementing good practices to retain employees. - The labour shortage is a fact
And at the same time, we are experiencing a labour shortage due to several factors: an aging population that leaves vacancies when it retires, a decline in the birth rate, and a workforce that is now more educated than before, with ambitions for working conditions that promote its well-being. This is not compatible with the way lower-paid jobs are currently managed. - Expectations are different in terms of working conditions
Historically, to have interesting conditions, you had to have positions of high responsibility in large companies. Now, this is expected in entry-level positions or positions that were historically lower-paid. The market has always rewarded responsibility and risk-taking. Not the value you have as a person. It’s quite a paradigm shift!For example: An operations manager takes on more responsibility and takes more risks than a clerk in the same organization. This is an extreme example to illustrate that it is the value of responsibilities that is remunerated, and not the value of people.
So there’s a key here: people want to be valued for who they are.
They want a good life, beautiful conditions and a healthy environment.
One cannot be against virtue. At the same time, there are great discussions to be had about the value that is created. The more value you create, the more wealth you create, in its broad sense.
The most successful business models of companies are those that create value for their customers.
Wealth is also about feeling appreciated, valued, listened to, recognized, and being able to evolve. We are returning to the basic needs of humans. And that’s often why employees leave! They find career opportunities to evolve, because of a problem adapting to the company or poor chemistry, for reasons of remuneration, or because of a bad management atmosphere.
I go back to the idea that people want to be valued, whether it’s in their careers or at home; be recognized for who they are and at their true value.
So we are in a debate about VALUE.
However, this creates a major change in mindset for organizations and managers, especially for those who believe that you have to work hard to be rewarded.
In other words, today we value DOING more and less the notion of BEING.
Now let’s look at the 3 tips for managing with high staff movement.
How do you stay agile in a high-staffing situation?
Why are people leaving, and what can you do as a manager who is experiencing a high turnover of staff?
Tip #1: Drive continuous improvement in your team
My little finger tells me that you already have several ideas for improvement for your team. Whether it’s on paper, in a tool, or in your head, it’s all about taking care of it!
Taking care of it does not mean “doing it alone”! You could take between 30 and 90 minutes a week with members of your team for certain projects and assign some time to move forward and have clear deliverables each month.
It’s better to be consistent and move forward than to stop everything at once in reaction to a situation.
Continuous improvement… it’s continuous! I understand that it takes time. The question is: how much energy and time are you wasting right now because you haven’t taken the time to optimize certain elements?
In fact, the fact that the same problems are repeated is one of the important causes of the lack of commitment in teams. If it’s heavy for you, it’s heavy for others!
To conclude on this advice, it can be very rewarding for someone to work on improving things, to have a project or a special responsibility. This is very formative from a career point of view. You’ll likely have less staff turnover if employees are motivated, learning, and understanding the organization better!
At the same time, I know that managers can have a hard time managing all these new ideas! Here’s how.
Tip #2: Strengthen teamwork
Bonds can be strengthened with meetings, team-building activities, and sub-group work. In addition, these moments will have a positive impact on the transfer of knowledge and on the sense of belonging.
In some organizations, teams set goals, measure their results themselves, and adjust. Imagine if this happened in your team… Your daily life would be lighter and you could finally move forward with your important files, wouldn’t you? The invitation is out! Don’t be alone in wanting to manage and do everything.
This is especially true if you hired people who didn’t have the right profile. I observe it frequently. It is short of staff. We don’t hire the right people while knowing full well that we won’t have time to supervise them. It doesn’t seem like a wheel that turns to success! Hence the #1 tip by the way! Doing more with less is possible.
One way to get out of this situation is to offer the team a say in the organization of work and even possibly in the choice of employees! A wow guaranteed.
For some, the clash of ideas looks like a conflict. Be more comfortable with constructive conflicts, I talked about them in this article.
Tip #3: Develop your management skills
The manager must have good know-how AND develop his or her interpersonal skills as well as his or her ability to act. Important skills include:
- Courage
- Accept mistakes
- Increase your self-confidence
- Delegate effectively
- Performance management
- Establish clear goals
- Measuring performance
Not to mention communication skills!
Continuous training, for you and for the members of your team, will not only be a way to motivate your team, but also to develop a common vocabulary and tools to work better together.
So, train yourself on management. Your learnings will benefit you AND your team. Several self-training courses are available here.
In conclusion
In order to manage with a high turnover of personnel, I invite you to work on the retention of personnel not only on a material level, but on an emotional and human level in order to minimize the turnover rate and the impact of the less qualified workforce.
To do this, find ways to value people, and recognize their contribution. Work on team spirit and develop your skills!