The Consequences of High Turnover
High staff turnover can have a number of consequences for an organization:
Very high re-recruitment costs
Poor skills transfer between employees
Low employee morale
Reduced employee effectiveness
Lack of team identity
A reputation as a bad employer – difficulty recruiting good employees
Recruitment Costs
One of the most immediate impacts of high staff turnover is financial. It is estimated that recruiting an hourly-paid worker can cost anything from $2,000-$10,000, with managers costing even more to recruit. These costs shouldn't be underestimated, and illustrate that sometimes spending money on retaining existing employees can often cost a lot less than having to re-recruit them.
Reduced Effectiveness
High turnover of staff can have a negative effect on the effectiveness of your workforce. If your existing employees are always worried about job security, having to train new staff, or thinking about leaving themselves, then they will not be doing such a good job for you.
Although it's a cliché, it's true – a happy employee is a productive employee! The opposite is definitely also true, and the loss of skills and lowered morale caused by a high turnover of staff can lead to a lowering of quality standards and efficiency in an organization.
As an employer, you should be aware of this, and try to take steps to address the causes of high turnover if you possibly can.
A Bad Employer
Rightly or wrongly, if your organization has a high turnover of staff, some of those ex-employees will bad-mouth your company, and over time you may gain a reputation as a "bad" employer. While it may not be true, that kind of reputation can lead to difficulty in recruiting good-quality employees, thus making your staf ...