Since Interior Talent’s start in 2003, candidates have opened up to us and shed a bit of light on why they are looking to leave their firms and transition to the next phase of their career. We’ve since taken those details and wanted to share some of our insight into retaining your top talent.
Why Employees Leave Their Jobs
A big piece of retaining your top performers is honing in on why they leave. New hires that have been with the company for less than one year have been found to leave because they feel the position or expectations of the job they are doing is different than what they were expecting after going through the interview process or if management and leadership are not aligned with their goals. Top performers on the other hand, are key employees that have been with the company for three or more years and leave when they feel undervalued or if they do not see a clear path for developmental and financial success.
Cost of Losing an Employee
Cost is more than just financial when it comes to the loss of a key performer and through our research over the years; we have calculated that the overall loss of a long-term top performer can actually be equated to 3-4x their salary. Not only are you affected in the sense that you will have to exert time and effort to replace that position, but you can also be faced with a decrease in company morale, time to retrain a new employee, and the productivity impact of everyone that is involved in picking up the slack.
Retention Starts With the Interview
From the moment that interviewing begins, there has to be a clearly defined definition of what equals success in the role that you are looking to fill. This includes benchmarks for tracking progress and transparency between leadership and those new employees. Starting from the interview process will allow you to put your best foot forward and shows your new employees you are invested in their future.
Getting the Buy-In
Getting existing employees involved and on board with new hires helps to validate your existing team. When your existing employees know the reasoning behind hiring an additional employee and what pain points they will help solve, there is no feeling of competition or risk.
Onboarding
Engineer a clear training plan that includes requirements and company culture for new hires. Including top performers in this process is a great way to validate their knowledge and have them feel like stakeholders in the process where they can be an ambassador to the new hire. It is also important to encourage a culture that embraces curiosity and information gathering that can lead to ongoing success and overall retention.
Reviews Equal Retention
Starting off with stay interviews and quick check-ins can be informal ways of following up with new hires prior to a formal 30 day review. Once those 30-60-90 day checkpoints arise, it is also crucial to discuss career growth, how to reach success, transparency about any challenges or concerns, and how to overcome obstacles in a more formal manner.
Long Term Retention Tools
The Interior Talent team is here as a resource for your long-term retention goals and if you’re interested in connecting further, please contact Nadia Roberts at Nadia@InteriorTalent.com or Kenneth Roberts at Kenneth@InteriorTalent.com to learn more.