The Ledger No. 2: Employee Turnover and Retention

Welcome to The Ledger where we sum up the latest finance and accounting news and trends for you. On this week’s entry, we’re diving into the topic of employee turnover and retention and what that means for companies today. Read on to see how to decrease turnover post-tax season, how to create a post-pandemic strategy to reduce overall turnover, why organizations should prepare for a high turnover surge, and how to retain employees.

Tips to Reduce Employee Turnover and Improve Retention After Tax Season

For accounting and finance leaders, tax season can be mentally draining. Add in a pandemic and it can feel like you’re drowning. Now imagine that for your employees. In a year of uncertainty and fear, it’s vital for managers to focus on their employees’ mental health. Here are a few ways to alleviate tax season burnout that will improve employee experience and thwart employees from calling it quits.

• Hold a meeting to review the company’s performance and employee engagement, discuss any barriers encountered, and identify any key takeaways.

• Be understanding - This past year has been challenging on everyone and making sure that your employees’ feel secure in their work should be of utmost importance to increase retention rate and job satisfaction.

• Offer perks and benefits like catered meals, flexible working hours, extra vacation days, and more. This will go a long way in the long term.

For a detailed look at how to reduce employee turnover rate post-tax season, check out the full article on Accounting Web.

Rethinking Employee Turnover and Retention During a Post-Pandemic Era

It’s been a year of having COVID under our belts and despite the uncertainty, many people are thinking ahead. A recent survey by Prudential showed that one in four4 workers planned to look for a new job after the pandemic dwindles down. However, despite the drawbacks, companies are using this as a chance to rethink their goals and strategies. Here are a few tips that leaders can start doing now to manage employee voluntary turnover.

• Prepare for what’s to come. A departing employee could cost you high sums of money. It's good to have an idea of what the cost of employee turnover is for your organization.

• Consider a hybrid model for your employees.

• Assess your company’s current way of doing things and adjust if needed.

• Embrace new changes. Reducing turnover is a process that takes time.

COVID has brought about a major shift in the way organizations retain their employees. In fact, The New York Times calls it a ‘…YOLO Economy.’ For the full article, head over to Forbes.com.

Potential Surge of Turnovers On The Horizon

A tsunami has devasting effects on infrastructure and people in its path. Likewise, a turnover tsunami disrupts organizations and leaves them scrambling to pick up the pieces – and that’s exactly what experts are predicting will happen once the economy recovers as the average number of employees who leave their current organization is expected to rise significantly. So why are companies experiencing a decrease in staff retention? Kate Keller with Keller Augusta says that several factors are responsible for this issue: pandemic burnout, unhealthy work environments, and pent-up demand for vacations. None of these qualify as "involuntary turnover" so here are a few best practices to consider before turnover happens:

• Figure out the future of your workplace.

• Reexamine your benefits package.

• Reevaluate your processes, this includes retention and turnover rates.

For more of an in-depth looks at how to combat turnover in the post-pandemic era, check out the full article on Biz Journals.

3 Areas That Organizations Should Focus Their Retention Strategies On

COVID-19 may have changed the how people work, but that doesn’t mean every company has followed suit. If worrying about a global crisis wasn’t bad enough, organizations now must turn their attention to the alarming turnover rates – 52 percent of employees are planning to look for a new job this year. So how can employers create a turnover-proof strategy that keeps employees for the long-haul? Here are three ways.

1. Get feedback from your employees, including the ones who leave via exit interviews.

2. Engage your employees.

3. Foster a healthy work-life balance.

To learn more about how to retain your employees and how to create a turnover calculator, read the full article at Inc.com.

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