Assess management and employee culture at least annually using a validated, benchmarked and anonymous survey. Our research results are consistent with lots of other international research. Most employees (and Managers) leave a business due to a poor or broken relationship with their immediate supervisor or Manager. High employee turnover (anything above 7% in any year) substantially reduces the profitability of the business, so focus on the Managers who have high employee turnover in their teams. Many managers (and owners) are very good at justifying why people have left, without ever acknowledging that they are likely to be a big part of the reason. Review your resignation rates on an least an annual basis by department and this lag indicator will give you a good idea on where to focus your efforts.
If you want to be proactive in this area, ie. before the employees vote with their feet and leave, measure where people are and use the results to focus and direct specific action to improve management and employee culture. HR Coach Australasia completed research in 2019 specifically on management culture in businesses, and found a significant alignment between management culture, employee culture and business performance. High performing businesses had all three areas aligned and operating at a high level. Low performing businesses had the opposite result.
Where employees do leave, have them complete an exit survey on key measures and graph and report the results on at least an annual basis.
Download the Employee Satisfaction Doesn’t Mean Profit White Paper if:
- You are a business owner keen to maximise your business performance and profitability
- You are responsible for the people aspects in your business and you want to improve the business outcomes
- You have invested heavily in employee satisfaction initiatives and now want to generate a greater return for the business