A high turnover tells you more about your team than any employee satisfaction survey

We remember my mother's uncle at every celebration of her birthday.

She always tells us that he started working the day she was born. And he retired on my mother's 40's birthday… Still from the same company.

He dedicated his entire working life to a single company.

His story, although singular, was not the only one of his time. People used to work only for a few companies in their entire careers.

As time passes, the number of companies and positions people work at increases, and the period they stay on each one reduces.

This turnover increase introduces new challenges for leaders and team members.

Turnover as a quality killer

When I joined my first big company as a trainee, I was part of a 10-person team.

2 more colleagues joined at the same time. It was the first experience for them as well. Everything was new for us.

A few weeks later, one of the old team members left the company. And he was not the last one. People kept leaving, and they were substituted with new hires.

After 18 months, one of my trainee colleagues and I were the most experienced members of the team.

I did the maths: Before we joined the team, the total experience of the members was 40 years. That number fell to 7 years of experience in only 18 months. The 10 members of the team were fresh workers.

You can imagine how this situation negatively impacted the quality of our service and the rapport with the client.

Each employee that leaves takes specific knowledge with them. Not only technical knowledge but also the team and client particularities.

It takes time until the new person can perform at the same level.

During the transition, other team members must help the new coming, neglecting their activities or working overtime.

More knowledge transfers, more support, more activities coming to the old members' plates.

What does it cause? The experienced members also lose their patience.

Imagine this: You've been responsible for an activity for 1 year. After you finally hand it over, the new responsible leaves. On whose desk will that activity land? Of course, your desk. Then, you need to invest more time in handing the same task over and over to new team members.

The damage is enormous:

• Performance: Activities take more time
• Quality: Mistakes are repeated
• Customer relations: The client's trust is lost
• Engagement: Team members get demotivated
• Synergy: The team is re-organized
• Development: Team members' growth is stuck.

Most common causes

The misconception is that the reasons behind a high turnover are salary or a hot market. Although they contribute, they are not the main ones.

I think this way. Someone joined my team with X salary. It doesn't make sense for them to leave 6 months later because of the money. If that happens, chances are that the employee didn't enjoy being part of the team.

Pointing out external causes won't help you to improve, as you don't have control over them.

The real causes are related to relationships, frustrations, and ways of working. Some examples are:

• Toxic environment. Bad relations with the boss, colleagues, or clients
• Unrealistic goals, deadlines, or excessive stress
• Lack of support or inadequate level of exigency (higher or lower)
• Bad team conduction or organization.
• Lack of freedom for thinking, doing, or growing
• Unclear career plan or messages across the team.
• Poor reward or lack of recognition.

The list goes on. Employee frustration plays the most significant role here.

Shifting the mindset

Once we stop looking at the high turnover as a misfortune and see it as an opportunity for improvement, everything changes: We can focus on an action plan to lower it.

As you may guess, we will achieve it by improving the well-being of our team members.

The key is to listen. As simple and complicated as that.

Always listen.

• Listen to their frustrations and their priorities.
• Listen to how they write and how they help each other.
• Listen to their fears and insecurities.
• Listen when they say nothing, listen when they complain, and listen when they are happy.
• Listen when they make a mistake or have an attitude you don't like.
• Listen when you give feedback or conduct a meeting.

Always listen.

Just one detail… Don't expect anyone to tell you: "Look… These are my frustrations. Could you help me to address them?".

It won't happen, even if you ask them to do so.

You need to be receptive and give them the space to feel comfortable expressing themselves. Build rapport. Most of the time, the communication won't be verbal. You will talk using your actions and attitudes. And so will them.

Once you understand and consider their individual needs, you will grow together.

You don't have to do everything they need or want. But consider it.

The balance is mandatory. Many people only focus on praising. But that means nothing, as you will come across as false.

You will only build rapport by being honest, respectful, and genuinely interested in your team.

Conclusion

The high turnover is the main quality killer of a team.

We tend to blame external factors such as low salaries or the market.

The reasons are related to our team members' daily frustrations at work.

To reduce the turnover, start listening and considering your team's members' needs.

By creating a better environment, you will make your and your team's lives better.

Consequently, you will reduce the turnover.

Thank you for reading. See you next time.