IT Might Be Too Good at Employee Retention

Retention is one of those rare workplace topics that seem to resonate equally on both sides of the employment fence.

Businesses that take personnel retention seriously by actively implementing policies to discourage their employees from fleeing to greener workplace pastures stand to save a lot of money because employee turnover is costly.

The Department of Labor estimates that it costs a company one-third of a new hires annual salary to replace him or her. Much of the reason this is so high is because turnover is full of hidden costs, from training new employees and the time it takes to get them up to proficiency to project downtime related to the departure and the costs of temporary workers.

/zimages/3/28571.gifIT workers battle to keep their skills current. Click here to read more.

Employees, too, tend to look fondly at the topic of retention because if their companies are making extra efforts to keep their workers happy, engaged and onboard, their jobs are generally more enjoyable.

Yet, it doesnt mean that the majority of companies have actually gotten this memo. Just one-quarter of managers in a survey released Oct. 17 by recruitment firm Hudson said their companies have a retention strategy in place. Fewer than half (44 percent) said their organizations conduct exit interviews.

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