Employee turnover is arguably the most damaging challenge that business owners face, especially when you’re caught in an endless cycle of hiring and firing. This becomes even more difficult when you’re already overwhelmed, making it tempting to onboard the first person you interview. But – this is exactly why you’re stuck in this cycle.

The reason why you have high employee turnover isn’t because of a poor job market or a “lazy generation” of employees – it’s because you’ve failed to create a role and/or a business that provides employees with a clear pathway to success and growth.

So, how can you make the necessary changes to attract talent that stays when you’re already strapped for resources? Here’s 3 key steps to take that will help you optimize your business for long-term employee retention and growth:

Step 1: Identify resource and communication gaps

The first step in addressing (and subsequently preventing) employee turnover is to perform an assessment of your current systems, processes, and communication channels. More often than not, the reason why you have high turnover is because your existing environment doesn’t set your employees up for success. Therefore, it is critical in these moments to take the time to perform every task your staff was responsible for so you can uncover opportunities to optimize your business, and in turn, attract the right talent.

When I was running our family insurance agency, we lost both of our employees within the same week that I purchased my new home. Unfortunately, we made the mistake of hiring the first person we interviewed (who we fired two weeks later). Not only did we waste time and resources onboarding her, but it set us back even further and made it more challenging to perform this “audit” that we so desperately needed. It took us two months to hire our next employee, and within that time, my mom and I humbled ourselves by taking over and meticulously performing every single task we had previously delegated to our staff.

What we discovered was that we had effectively become the bottleneck within our business. Almost every task that was previously assigned to our employees wasn’t backed up by a clear, documented process, which would explain their frustration and lack of motivation. This translated into a poor communication protocol where we were constantly going back and forth with our staff because nobody was clear about what, when, and how they should be performing tasks. Once we outlined exactly how every vertical within our business should operate (and how questions, assignments, and results should be communicated), it became far easier for us to create new roles and attract the right talent.

Step 2: Redefine the role(s) you’re hiring for

Now that your business’ overall processes have been outlined and you’ve established expectations around reporting and performance, you can develop a role that is directly aligned with these goals and standards. If you’re hiring for a traditional role (such as an account manager, sales producer, or a customer service representative), it may be tempting to just copy and paste a standard job definition. While most of the items will be applicable to your business, it’s critical to also consider the following questions when outlining the title and description for the role:

• What results or impact will this person’s efforts contribute to? What overall business goals will they be helping to achieve?
• What are the “soft skills” required to perform this role well? What type of person is this role a good fit for? What type of person is this role NOT a good fit for?
• What type of environment will the person hired for this role be working in? Will they be mostly independent and have to be scrappy and find resources on their own? Will they be able to take initiative or have to follow strict guidelines? Will they need to collaborate often with others? Who will they be reporting to and how?
• What standards will their performance be measured against and what opportunities for career advancement are available to them if they exceed the expectations outlined for the role?

These questions (and more that you can find in my Hiring 101 webinar) aim to get to an answer that is even more important than finding someone who is technically qualified for the role: whether or not they can meet the cultural and communication expectations within your business.

Hard skills are easy to teach, as long as someone is motivated to learn, but it’s far more difficult to coax someone in behaving and working in a way that is aligned with your business’ unique operating model.

Step 3: Outline your unique differentiator as a small business employer

If you want to attract top talent, then you must first acknowledge that you’re going to be competing with larger, more established companies. It’s no longer enough to offer competitive compensation, perks, and benefits – you must clearly define what working for your small business will offer a potential hire that they wouldn’t be able to get at a larger organization. Depending on the nature of your business, this may include:

• Flexibility & Autonomy: Offering flexible hours or even a remote work setup, where employees can choose how and when to get their tasks done in a way that works best for them allows you to cater to your staff’s needs and lifestyles and keep employee turnover low.
• Inclusivity & Culture: As a smaller organization, you have far more control over the type of culture you can create within your company, which is a plus when trying to attract talent that wants to feel included. Smaller teams often collaborate better and allow space for everyone to have a say, making your business stand out even more among applicants.
• Career Advancement & Impact: You have a unique advantage over larger corporations in that you can offer potential hires the opportunity to make greater contributions within a shorter amount of time. More and more employees are prioritizing the impact they can have within an organization when job-hunting, and because your business is smaller, it’s easier for you to provide them the option to grow quickly and add more value within your company.

The common theme here is that as a small business, you can provide employees with a more inclusive and impactful experience as well as the opportunity to learn, grow, and take initiative early on in their careers.

Conclusion: Employee turnover only gets better when you first address what your business needs

Breaking the cycle of employee turnover ultimately comes down to shifting the focus from what you expect from employees to what you expect and need from your business as a whole. Any employee, regardless of how talented or qualified they are, can only be as effective as the resources and environment that they work in.

It’s your responsibility as a small business owner to have the humility to acknowledge and address the gaps within your existing roles and operations so that neither you nor your employees have any excuse when it comes to performance. The process of assessing, correcting, and then marketing your business to attract the right talent is challenging, but it will provide you with the foundation you need to grow your business for years to come.

“Where do I begin?”

If you’re struggling with employee turnover, and aren’t sure where to begin with auditing your business, check out the Business Essentials Assessment to learn how we can work together through this process. If you have any questions, send me an email at [email protected] or click the button below to set up a call.