It’s shocking how many organisations continue to downplay the value of delivering a robust employee experience. Whether it’s updating and maintaining an employee intranet, investing in better policies and procedure management or continuing to modernise tools and technology, these areas can be deprioritised at budget time. However, this is a dangerous path to tread, as the resulting employee turnover can be incredibly costly. The Australian HR Institute estimates that the true cost of replacing an employee is close to 1.5 times their annual salary.
Activities directed towards employee experience shouldn’t be regarded as frivolous, but as an opportunity to add value and strengthen employee retention.
What is the cost of losing an employee?
There is a number of factors to take into consideration when calculating the true cost of employee attrition. Not only are there direct costs associated with rehiring and onboarding a new employee, but there are indirect costs associated with organisational knowledge, the impact on workplace culture and employee morale. Turnover contagion is a real phenomenon, with a study by Visier finding that when a voluntary resignation occurs, employees on their teams are 9.1% more likely to resign.
Why do employees leave?
While traditionally an attractive salary has been enough for an employee to stick around, according to findings from McKinsey, people want more. A lack of career development, flexibility and uncaring and uninspiring leaders are all reasons why employees may choose to leave. Gartner recognises the push towards a human centric approach with the prioritisation of purpose and values. While 82% of employees say it’s important for their organisation to see them as a person, not just an employee, only 45% of employees believe their organisation actually sees them this way.
While employee churn might feel inevitable, according to Gallup, 52% of employees that voluntarily resign say their organisation could have done something to prevent them from leaving. In another Gallup study, respondents were asked, ‘if you could make one change at your current employer to make it a great place to work, what would it be?’, 41% of responses related to engagement or culture.
Keeping employees engaged
So where to begin for a better employee experience? An engaging, informative employee intranet (like Injio) can be used to increase transparency and visibility and build a strong, inclusive culture. Consider using an employee intranet to:
- Promote regular employee surveys to gather feedback on how employees are feeling and changes they want to see. This not only makes employees feel valued but gives management an opportunity to view the organisation from a different perspective. Just make sure to action at least some of the feedback received!
- Consistently reinforce company values through content updates such as articles, videos and events eg quarterly video from the CEO to clarify direction and create connection to the organisation’s vision.
- Employee health and wellbeing programs. Whether it’s starting a new run club or providing useful tips on stretching, keeping stress levels down is a win for everyone.
- Celebrate great work. An employee recognition program not only helps strengthen relationships but boosts productivity, creating a culture that strives for improvement.
- Build out a comprehensive training area for employees to sharpen their knowledge and skills. Consider offering staff development content across multiple topics, so that staff feel there’s opportunity for career development and growth.
These are only a few ways you could use an intranet to enhance employee experience and reduce turnover. In addition to an intranet, other areas that are likely to be influential include work policies, flexibility and benefits.
Ultimately, organisations that are committed to making employee experience a priority are not only going to reap the financial rewards of low staff turnover, but benefit from happier, more productive employees.
