Like any relationship breakdown, it’s too late to fix things once they’re out the door. But when you ask “why?!” – thinking it’s for the sake of closure – you’re also gaining insights that will help your next partnership be more successful, and last longer.
And if you’re dumped again, and again, and again? You can be fairly certain that you’re the problem. When it comes to employee retention, the same logic applies – that “why?!” really, really matters.
The secret to solving employee retention? People analytics
A tearful phone call isn’t going to cut it. When trying to address employee attrition, you need to know more – which employees have left, in which demographics and departments, and after how long. All of that information helps you identify any underlying issues.
By viewing your historical HR data, you can spot trends. That could be an upwards rise in leavers within a particular department, like your sales team, or a demographic, like women aged 25-35. That gives you a starting point that you can explore by collecting more data – with an employee survey, for example. Then you’ll learn:
- Who’s leaving
- Why they’re leaving, and
- How to get them to stay
Let’s see how it’s done:
2 leading organisations with data-driven retention strategies
1. Google
Have you heard of “Project Oxygen”? Vaguely ominous name aside, this was one of Google’s most-discussed forays into people analytics – beginning all the way back in 2009. The goal was learning how to make managers better (and so reduce attrition).
They pulled together 10,000+ pieces of feedback they had about their managers, used that data to work out what qualities mattered to employees, ranked them by importance, and built those insights into training programmes. The result? Clear improvements to 75% of their worst-performing managers.
2. Deloitte
Not every organisation can do such a big project in-house – and that’s where consultancy services like Deloitte offers can play a part. In one of their case studies, they used predictive analytics to build a retention strategy for a global pharmaceutical business.
Through historical data and the definition of diagnostic factors, they scored each sales employee for retention – giving leaders a way to target efforts to keep their best talent. This efficient approach led to a 98% retention rate in that high-value group, after just one year.
The takeaway:
By using the data you already have, and collecting specific feedback to complement it, you can create a retention strategy that has real results.
Strategies for smaller businesses to retain employees
I know what you’re thinking: it’s fine for the Googles of the world, with their multi-disciplined people analytics teams and seemingly unlimited resources. And for those with Deloitte-level budgets, sure, solving retention is doable. But for you, a small HR team in a small organisation? With no time, budget, or training in advanced data analysis? What are you supposed to do?
The answer is simple: you need a bigger team. An expert in people analytics, employee feedback, reporting and change management, and a domain knowledge that underpins that.
Trust Qlearsite with your attrition data: we’re on your team
You don’t have to have big budgets, or massive teams. We’ve got an affordable, easy, leadership-influencing way to improve retention – all in one platform. When you use our People Analytics Platform, it’s like gaining a whole team, including a:
- People Analytics Expert: analysing historical data from your HRIS, identifying trends, and giving you predictions about your employees
- Feedback Expert: an easy way to build, brand, and send surveys – using an expert-written question bank – and advanced text analysis of the feedback
- HR Business Partner: easy-to-use, drag-and-drop reporting tools – with simple ways to save and share interesting insights, and build a business case for initiatives
- HR Expert: the domain knowledge and expert advice of an organisational scientist with years of experience in the field of human resources
We want to help you improve retention in your organisation – no matter how small, no matter how strapped for resources. So let’s get started today: try our platform for free.