Last year, HR Reporter reported that Canada ranked 4th globally in terms of employee turnover rates. This is a staggering - and sobering - statistic given the time and money spent to hire and train new employees, only to watch them walk out the door (either voluntarily or involuntarily). According to Forbes, a good estimated average cost of a bad hire is 30% of that individual’s annual salary; for most businesses, that can have a significant financial impact on what are already tight budgets.
And while we may be thinking that the problem rests with the employee themselves, sometimes the focus needs to shift back to the organization. It’s easy to simply say that the new hire wasn’t a good fit, or didn’t ramp up in time, or made a huge error and messed up a big account. But the critical step is digging deeper and asking ‘why?’, and not from a ‘hey where did we miss this in the interview process’ perspective, but from the ‘where did we fail to support them’ perspective.
Don’t get me wrong; proper assessment at the front end is absolutely critical, and utilizing your team to ensure the proper competencies for the role are being measured is key. But analyzing their experience post-hire can shed light on other issues that may have impacted performance. According to Inc.com, the top reasons new hires leave within the first 90 days are due to an unstructured onboarding process, unclear goals and expectations, and training that stops after onboarding.
While exit interviews are a great way to gain insight into a departing employee’s experiences, the goal is to uncover barriers before they leave. A good first step: let the candidate know what to expect in their first 90 days, and ask them what they expect - and need - in order to meet that goal. And then keep that conversation going, adjusting course as necessary to help facilitate their success. Because their success is your success, and the cost of leaving is a high price to pay.
Tulloch Consulting provides strategic advice to help you recruit, and retain, top talent. Contact us today: 778-378-9397.