With the problem of employee retention growing, companies are more likely to rely on performance analytics to better prepare themselves if workers decide to leave their employers, The Wall Street Journal reported. High employee turnover could cost employers thousands, reducing profits and resources to use for existing employees. While there are various reasons why workers would want to leave a company, it’s up to employers to determine the cause and react quickly.
Big companies like Wal-Mart are using employee management analytics to determine whether employees are deciding to move on to another employer, according to the Journal. Not only do employers get a better idea of which employees are considering leaving, but they can also identify the source of lower employee retention.
According to LinkedIn, it can cost a company 30 percent to 50 percent of an employee’s annual salary to replace an entry-level worker. This percentage is substantially higher for mid-level and high-level employees or workers with special skills. With the high cost of employee turnover, employees should track metrics that could indicate when an employee is close to heading out the door.
Data collection to improve retention
The types of data employers can collect include how long workers have been with the company, performance statistics and responses to surveys and personality tests.
Companies that use sales effectiveness metrics and other key performance indicators can gain insight into whether employees are engaged with their jobs and whether there are underlying causes to a drop in productivity. When firms suspect that employees are losing interest in their jobs, they could confirm this through worsening key performance indicators, such as lower sales and when employees are less likely to meet their quotas. Without quantitative data like revenue per sale and other measures, employers are less likely to pick up on subtle signals that employees are ready to leave.
If employers are able to detect employees who are more likely to leave, they can ready themselves to find a replacement to reduce any productivity losses that happen during the recruiting and training process for new employees.
“If we can tell three months in advance [that a position is going to be open], we can start hiring and training people,” said Elpida Ormanidou, vice president of global people analytics at Wal-Mart, according to the Journal. “You don’t want the jobs vacant for that long a time.”
