How to Retain Your Staff Better than Other Small Businesses
Let’s talk about Retention.
If you know me or have heard me speak, you know how passionate I am about how retention in small business can drastically change your bottom line. I talk to a lot of Business Owners and CEOs about retention, and the overwhelming theme is that HR is “soft”, “touchy feely”, or the “only department that does not have to reach a goal or quota.”
I am a Mathematical Economics major. You are probably asking how I got into HR, and that is a fair question. However, that means I love data. So we are going to go over some statistics that disprove that HR “does not affect your bottom line as a small business.”
The stats:
3.7% Unemployment Rate (this is staying for the moment)
47% of Active U.S. employees are “watching or actively looking for new opportunities”
Replacing exiting workers costs .5x - 2x the employee's annual salary. Assuming an average salary of $50,000 that replacement cost translates to between $25,000 and $100,000 per employee.
Obviously, your small business is probably perfect and no one will ever leave your organization. However, 47% is a huge percentage of employees who are looking to leave for a new job and actually admitted to it on a survey. If you combine that with the cost outlined above you will hopefully realize that HR and retention dramatically affect the bottom line of your small business.
Want more stats? Here you go:
- In 2021-2022, a majority of workers who quit their job were asked and they said these were the top factors:
63% - Low Pay
63% - No Opportunities for Advancement
57% - Felt Disrespected at Work
Before you roll your eyes, think for a second about this. Maybe you cannot match the offer that Google just gave your EA. However, there are things that may be considered “touchy feely” or “soft” that can affect your bottom line. And did I forget to mention… a lot of this is free!
So here are the areas of Retention that we are going to focus on the next couple of weeks:
Competitive Salary
Career Path for Employees
Health Benefits, 401k, and PTO
Flexible Hours
Flexible Work Location (some 4-day workweek talk as well)
Unique Benefits No One Else is Offering
Leadership Development or Mentoring Programs
Great Looking Work Environment
That’s the start! Can’t wait to hear your thoughts in the coming week.
In the meantime, here is our Small Business HR Quiz. See where you are at and where you may need some help: