5 Reasons You Are Struggling with Employee Turnover Having an exit strategy is a wise choice depending on the situation you find yourself in. Sometimes, for some people, that situation is when starting a new job. Nothing is guaranteed these days, so it’s good to protect yourself. But if you’re the owner or manager of a business, the last thing you want your employees to have, especially the good ones, is the desire to leave your company. Sadly, the cleaning business is known for employee turnover with an insanely high rate (over 200%). If you want to ensure that your employees throw their exit strategies away, you need to acknowledge the reasons why you’re struggling with employee turnover and do whatever you can to fix it!
What Do Your People Need? The main reason employees leave, regardless of the business they’re in, is because they don’t feel appreciated. If you think back to your working days, you have more than likely experienced this – you know how that feels. If that’s true, then you probably went into business thinking you would make sure that wouldn’t happen to your employees. But have some of them left? Did they exit on good terms, or were there issues that forced them to leave (or forced you to fire them)? Many of those in management would like to believe that if there are problems, it’s because of the employee, but statistics show that it really starts at the top. Everyone in business has heard the saying, “Employees don’t leave jobs, they leave bosses.” Gallup has done extensive research on the effect that management has on employee engagement, but most companies haven’t done anything to change or improve this area. The truth is, your staff needs a better you!
It’s Time to Make Some Changes There are 5 ways that management contributes to high employee turnover: 1. Lack of Communication – This is a problem for most businesses. Working with people is hard, especially when there are so many ways to communicate, but you aren’t sure which way will best translate your message to your people. Sadly, a lot of managers will just stop there – if their employees can’t get with their program, then they can leave. This is the “My way or the highway” method, and will get you nowhere as a manager! While you may be the one signing the checks, you still need to see yourself as part of the team. Having a team mentality will not only boost morale, but it will open more doors for communication in the long run.
2. Lack of Appreciation – If someone who is generally working hard and trying their best doesn’t feel appreciated, they will lose sight of the original goal and look elsewhere for satisfaction. This is true is most areas of life, but especially when it comes to employment. There’s a company in Birmingham, AL that has this motto hanging on their wall: “Be the person you needed when you were younger.” Whether you felt appreciated in your previous work experiences or not, think about what your team needs as encouragement from you, their leader. Gallup has research that suggests that a whopping 65% of American employees said that they haven’t received recognition or appreciation from their managers within the last calendar year. Can you imagine working a job without feeling like you matter, where you’re not appreciated or noticed in a year?! You would quit in a heartbeat! Help your staff to feel appreciated!
3. Lack of Respect – Unfortunately, this is true across the board as well. As work ethics and job requirements have changed over the years, so have the quality of people looking for jobs. It’s much more of an entitlement culture now rather than a focus on working hard for what you think you deserve. This breeds a lack of respect all the way around, not just between managers and employees. But again – this starts with you. If your team doesn’t feel respected, they’re not going to give you the proper respect in return, no matter how hard you push them. Every person deserves respect, especially the people who have trusted you as their employer.
4. Lack of Development – In the cleaning world, your jobs are what they are, and there really isn’t a ladder to move up. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take time to develop your team. Training is the core of any solid business – having a unified approach, making sure that everyone is on the same page, setting the bar as high as it needs to be for your particular niche in the cleaning world – all of it is of the utmost importance. It may not seem like the biggest deal to show someone how to clean a toilet, but if they do it incorrectly, you’ll hear about it from your customer. Implementing a training regimen is key to your people feeling like they’re a part of something bigger than themselves.
5. Lack of Motivation – What motivates you? What motivates your employees? If you only know the answer to the first question, you’re truly doing your team a disservice. Whether it’s bonuses, extra time off, perks, benefits, or a pat on the back from time to time, you need to know what motivates your employees to come into work every day and do a good job for you. If you’ve never utilized a reward system, maybe it’s time to start. If you’ve never considered pay bonuses for a job well done, you may want to visit that as a possibility. Your staff will thank you!
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End Employee Turnover For Good If you can work on any of these above areas, your staff will be grateful, and your business will flourish. You can practically eliminate employee turnover by putting in a small amount of extra effort. If you’re ready to put forth that extra effort, then it’s time to start using one of the best tools at your disposal – business management software. This type of software can help you organize and streamline your work process, giving you more time to invest in your staff and keep your customers happy. Janitorial Manager is here for you – give us a call or schedule a free demo today!