COMP NEWS – A new survey indicates that employee turnover risk is at its highest point in nearly a decade, with more than half of U.S. employees actively seeking new work.

Self-reported employee turnover risk is at its highest point since 2015.

 

Gallup’s latest measure in May shows half of U.S. employees (51%) are watching or actively seeking a new job, continuing a recent upward trend. While voluntary employee turnover rates have stabilized since the Great Resignation due to cooling economic and job markets, employees’ long-term commitment to their organizations is currently the lowest it has been in nine years.

 

Employee retention challenges are emerging, and failing to act could lead to costly replacements in the future. Gallup estimates that the replacement of leaders and managers costs around 200% of their salary, the replacement of professionals in technical roles is 80% of their salary, and frontline employees 40% of their salary.

 

The good news? Employee discontent and voluntary exits are highly preventable, at least from the employee perspective.

 

An astounding 42% of employees who voluntarily left their organization in the past year report that their manager or organization could have done something to prevent them from leaving their job.

More than three in four employees who voluntarily leave their job did so within three months of searching for a new one.

When employees decide to voluntarily leave their job, the decision often happens quickly. More than three in four (77%) voluntary leavers either left within three months of searching for a new job or did not actively search for new employment in the first place.

 

Employees often make exit decisions without proactive communication. Thirty-six percent of voluntary leavers report that they did not talk to anyone before they made the decision to resign.

 

Even when employees did talk to someone while deliberating, their managers were frequently left in the dark. Four in 10 (44%) of those who discussed their intention to leave did not talk to their direct supervisor or manager before deciding to leave. It was more likely that employees had such discussions with their coworkers than their managers.

 

This means that if managers want to prevent employee turnover, they cannot wait for employees to express their intentions to leave. The manager is responsible for initiating the right conversations before their employees make the decision to leave their jobs.

To read more about preventing employee turnover, click here.

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