Every company experiences employee turnover as positions become vacant due to quitting, promotions, transfers, retirement or termination.
When a high turnover rate in your warehouse division starts affecting your company’s bottom line, follow these five steps to address the issue.
Step 1: Consider turnover rates industry-wide
The first step is to calculate your turnover rates and see how they compare to others in your industry. Admittedly, this doesn’t really do anything to resolve the issue, but it can tell you if you’re experiencing the same level of turnover as other similar businesses or if your company’s rates appear to be better or worse.
Seeing how you stack up against others can provide some insight as to whether your turnover is normal among industry trends or way out of bounds.
Suppose your rate is close to normal and you want it to improve. In that case, this suggests that you have to do something to stand out against your competitors to attract and retain top talent. If your rate is a lot higher, there may be things going on internally that need to be fixed to make your company more appealing to current and prospective employees.
Step 2: Determine your turnover by separation type
It is important to categorize the data correctly once you have found it. Quitting, layoffs, and retirement are often grouped together, but it is crucial to separate them by type. Understanding the primary reason why certain roles are being left vacant is essential to reducing your turnover rate. Therefore, take the time to analyze your vacancies data from the past year and identify the driving forces behind them.
Are warehouse workers leaving for better-paying jobs, for instance, or is it that you have an older workforce and you’re facing a higher number of retirements? Each type of situation would require a different approach to resolve. And you can’t begin to work on that approach until you know the situation you face.
Step 3: Brainstorm solutions
Once you have identified the reasons why workers are leaving your warehouse department at a higher rate, it’s time to brainstorm for potential solutions. Involve people from different levels within the company in the brainstorming session. Seek ideas from company leaders as well as individuals who are currently in positions with high turnover rates.
The main objective of this session is to generate as many solutions as possible, regardless of whether they are feasible or not. By not setting any requirements or parameters, it allows creativity to flow freely. This way, you may be able to come up with solutions to the problem that you have never thought of before.
Step 4: Implement the top 1-3 strategies
Once you have completed your brainstorming session, select the top one to three strategies to reduce employee turnover and implement them. For example, if employees are leaving because they can earn more elsewhere, consider paying more for high-turnover positions. If work-life balance is a problem, you could offer every other weekend off to give employees more time with their loved ones.
Additionally, make sure to advertise these benefits when posting open positions. During interviews, ask the candidates what they think of these options and whether they find them attractive or not. This will help you determine whether these strategies are effective in attracting potential employees or not.
Step 5: Monitor results and modify as needed
It’s important to allocate three to six months to evaluate whether your new strategies are effective. In order to do so, you should regularly monitor your turnover rates and keep track of the reasons why positions are being vacated during this time period. This will allow you to stay up-to-date with the most current information.
If some of your strategies are working well, it’s recommended to continue using them. However, if some are not working as well as expected, consider trying one or two of the other options that were discussed during your brainstorming session. It may take some trial and error to determine the best approach for your company, but as long as you are persistent and keep trying, you are on the right track. A trusted staffing company can help you manage your workforce including training and turnover.
