By the time you’ve screened, interviewed, and hired a new team member, you’ve spent months and good chunk of change getting them right where you want them. “At least that’s behind us,” you think—until your latest addition resigns not a year after their hire date.
33% of new employees quit within their first six months, which can send your organization’s engagement and productivity into a death spiral. A new employee’s first 12 months determine whether they will stay with your company for the long-term and how engaged and efficient they will be during their tenure.
Wouldn’t you prefer your employees to be happily productive for years? Roger that. Here are 7 reasons why new hires commonly quit within their first year and what you can do to keep them from heading toward the door.
1. Sinking ship syndrome
If your new hire doesn’t have the skill set to do their job, they’ll quickly find themselves in the sinking area of the “sink or swim” training grounds. You will be forced to fire them and find a replacement or they will quit out of frustration.
Prevention Strategy:
Don’t let the perfect CV blind you! Anyone can polish their documents until they shine but that does not equate to necessary skills. Put applicants through tests or modules that simulate their on-the-job duties, from designing a logo to programming an app, in order to weed out unfit candidates who would turn over within year one.
2. Manage-mental
As the old saying goes, “People don’t quit jobs, they quit managers.” If new team members are leaving faster than a 16-year-old at grandma’s birthday party, something is rotten in Denmark.
Prevention Strategy:
Have you already experienced some turnover within the same position? Take a good long look at management before placing the blame solely on subordinates. Then, implement anonymous quarterly surveys if you haven’t already done so. Gathering feedback on a regular basis keeps your fingers on the pulse of your management team’s performance, and can indicate where improvements are urgently needed.
Tip: Don’t assume that all poorly performing managers have bad intentions; it could be that they simply do not know how to manage well. With proper onboarding for new managers, they may be much more effective, agreeable leaders.
3. Lackluster benefits
According to Glassdoor, 57% of candidates name benefits among their top considerations when assessing a new job. If your benefits package isn’t up to par, that could be the cause of your employee turnover.
Prevention Strategy:
Even if you can’t provide all of the glitz and glamour of your competitors, set yourself apart in other ways to hire and retain top talent. Offer a flexible work schedule, for instance, or give team members more autonomy over their work projects.
Tip: Learn more about wowing top talent with benefits and perks (and understand the real difference between the two!).
4. Career fog
Quantum Workplace’s Employee Engagement Trends report found that Millennials are the least engaged age group of professionals, partly due to a real or perceived lack of career advancement opportunities.
Prevention Strategy:
Onboarding is key to setting expectations—ensuring that new hires start with the right mindset and understand exactly what they’re responsible for, where their career is headed, and what kind of financial incentives and advancement opportunities to anticipate in the future.
5. Better offers
The problem with hiring great employees is that everyone else wants to hire them, too. It’s every recruiter’s worst nightmare: talent poaching.
Prevention Strategy:
Don’t assume that your work is done once you’ve enticed a great catch to your organization. 90% of employees worldwide are open to new job opportunities even if they’re not currently looking. Maintaining a mindset of constantly “re-wooing” your employees can go a long way toward fighting complacency that can cost you great talent.
6. Life milestones or anniversaries
New job searches increase by 12% before birthdays and 16% after school reunions, according to the Harvard Business Review. Employees tend to compare themselves and their careers to others, and then make career changes if they don’t like their standing.
Prevention Strategy:
Make an extra effort during certain times of the year—such as around birthdays, especially milestone ones like 30, 40, or 50—to check in with team members and gauge their satisfaction.
7. An unimpressive first week
In a study of employees who had left their positions within 6 months, BambooHR found that 16-17% of employees exited between the first week and third month of starting. That’s right: it only takes five days for many professionals to decide whether to stay or go.
Prevention Strategy:
Make your new hires’ first week memorable. Do some team-building activities to connect them to the group, have fun with gamifying those boring administrative necessities, and integrate them into the company culture. Then, translate this momentum into a great first year on the job!
Don’t forget to download our free New Hire Onboarding Milestone Checklist! It shows you everything you need to know to properly integrate new employees into your company, so they stay past their first 12 months.
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