In times of a shortage of skilled workers, the topics of recruiting and retaining employees are of fundamental importance for companies. Employee turnover is a problem that many organizations struggle with. Especially in times of staff shortages, skilled workers have numerous options, as there are more vacancies than qualified applicants. Professionals can choose the option that best suits their needs and expectations.
If a company has to hire new people frequently due to employee turnover, this quickly leads to high costs and takes a lot of time. In addition, the constant changes within the team can impair the motivation of the remaining employees. This presents companies with significant challenges.
A study by Andrew L. Rubenstein, Marion B. Eberly, Thomas W. Lee, and Terence R. Mitchell analyzes factors that contribute to voluntary employee turnover. For this purpose, numerous previously conducted studies were evaluated. Ultimately, five main factors emerged that have a significant influence on why employees leave companies on their own initiative.
1. Role conflicts
Companies often do not officially define who has which role. Questions such as “Who is working on which topic?” and “Who is allowed to decide what?” are unresolved. This leads to stress and frustration among employees, which in turn causes people to lose interest in their work. In the long run, they will look for a new job because of their dissatisfaction.
2. Leadership and organizational climate
A key reason why employees leave companies voluntarily is management. If not enough time is invested in responsible, people-centred leadership, employees will be gone faster than you think. Reasons for this are, for example, too little leeway, high pressure and a lack of agility.
The organizational climate also plays an important role. A positive corporate culture and collaboration help employees feel comfortable and stay with the company.
3. Openness to new things
People who are open and interested in new things tend to change jobs more often. Anyone who now thinks that companies should therefore not hire people with these characteristics is, however, wrong. Because open, curious people are the ones who bring in new ideas and thus advance the company. If there is an agile corporate culture that is characterized by openness and offers a wide range of development opportunities, employees feel more comfortable and connected to the company. This reduces the likelihood that they will look to other companies and industries that offer more growth potential.
4. Emotional stability and conscientiousness
In contrast to the people just described, people with high emotional stability and conscientiousness are significantly less likely to change jobs. In addition, a high level of conscientiousness is a reliable indicator of high performance. As long as it isn’t too pronounced. Because too much conscientiousness can also have a negative effect on work. The urge to get things done perfectly creates delays in the work process that impact productivity.
5. Cultural Fit
Cultural fit is about the match of values, behaviors and attitudes between an individual and an organization. The better the cultural fit between employees and company, the lower the fluctuation rate. When recruiting, it is therefore important to take enough time to select personnel and to be honest about the company and the working environment. This is the only way to create a harmonious working environment in which employees are happy and motivated to work. When this is the case and employees identify with the culture of the company, they are more likely to stay with the company in the long term. Those who invest more time in the search for and selection of personnel may search longer, but less often.
Agile leadership as a means against employee turnover
In order to successfully meet these challenges and take effective measures against employee fluctuation, the topic of agile leadership is of great relevance for companies.
Was ist Agile Leadership?
This concept is not only about creating an agile organizational structure and agile processes, but also about establishing an agile mindset among employees and, above all, among managers. Agile leadership creates the framework for an agile culture. The focus is on empowerment and delegation and not on micromanagement and control.
How does agile leadership affect employees?
Because employees are given responsibility, can contribute their ideas and are allowed to make independent decisions within a certain framework, they feel more connected to the company and are therefore less inclined to end their employment.
Agile leadership relies on a clear distribution of roles and regulated responsibilities within the team. Managers endeavor to provide regular feedback and create continuous development opportunities. This gives employees a sense of appreciation and thus promotes their satisfaction and commitment at work. Agile leadership is designed to be able to react quickly to changes and challenges. Managers grant their teams the necessary freedom and flexibility for this. In addition, agile leadership promotes cohesion and team spirit, since agile methods improve communication in the team and strengthen cooperation. The employees feel like part of the team, which strengthens their bond with the company. All of these factors contribute to strengthening employee retention and reducing employee turnover.
How do you introduce agile leadership?
Agile leadership is a complex topic. At the beginning, companies often ask themselves questions such as “Where do you start as a manager and how do you best proceed to achieve sustainable success?” In order to support organizations in successfully introducing agile leadership, the CyberForum has been offering as part of the CyberForum Academy September 2019 a modular agile leadership training. Companies are accompanied over a period of 10 months and receive support in the form of coaching, learning tandems and psychological aptitude diagnostics.
More information on agile leadership training is available here.