A high staff turnover is extremely costly for a company. Most estimates put the cost of filling a position to be roughly 30% of the salary advertised.
However, high staff turnover is not just expensive for the company it also has a negative impact on staff moral as well as the company’s long-term success.
Firstly this revolves around training as well as knowledge of the company and understanding of the market.
Every new has to be brought up to speed with the industry. If staff turnover is high then companies can find themselves in a state of perpetual training.
What’s more short-lived employees never gain a fully proficient knowledge of the organization or the sector in which they are working. Ultimately this ignorance could be a liability.
Therefore, by relying on a constantly changing staff you continuously put more and more pressure on existing members of the team, as they are the ones who have to fill in the gaps left by either a resignation or an inexperienced team member.
In effect, this causes a vicious downward cycle, as more experienced staff quit due to the excessive pressure they are under. If left unchecked, this could lead to talent vacuum within the company.
Compare this to businesses with a low staff turn over, company moral is usually much higher, stress is lower and employees are more likely to stay loyal.
Also from a customer’s perspective, this is better. Not only is account continuity maintained, you’re not having to constantly introduce new people to clients.
On the staff front a low turnover is extremely beneficial for an individual’s personal and career development as increasingly companies are looking for examples of challenges and outcomes when hiring individuals.
Naturally, the longer you have stayed with an employer the more evidence of this you will be able to provide when looking for a new job.
Also from an employer’s perspective, if there are a large number of previous jobs on your CV in a relatively short space of time, questions may be raised about your employability.
The biggest investment any company makes is in its own talent. The business that recognisies this and nurtures it will be more successful in the long term.
