Does your business find it difficult to retain valuable members of your team? Has retention always been an issue, or is it only recently that team turnover has increased tenfold? Whatever the answer, it’s important to investigate what the root cause may be before your competitors are the beneficiaries of all those months and years you invested in your people.

There are several reasons why people move on, and not all of them boil down to becoming tired of where they work. Family reasons, the desire to try something new. or relocation are all valid reasons for moving on. However, if you notice a steady increase in people just straight up quitting, this is an indicator that something is not right, and likely, there is an underlying issue that is causing people to leave your company.

Has Anything Changed?

Are you able to pinpoint a time when turnover started to increase? If so, has anything noticeably changed in the workplace that may coincide with this?

Perhaps a new manager was hired or promoted, changes to policy were made, or increased workload could be the reason behind members of your staff leaving. While some change is good, negative changes in the mood and atmosphere almost always lead to a fragmented team, with vital members going on their merry way.

When you can diagnose a problem, you can work towards finding a solution. Whatever that may be will come down to your findings and it may involve making a tough decision. Make sure to speak to your employees to try to uncover any patterns or issues that may arise in their discussions with you.

Market Analysis

If you aren’t aware of what your competitors are offering, you can be sure that your staff members certainly are. This is especially true if your company has been unable or unwilling to offer any bonuses or incentives recently.

Remember that whether you offer an increase or not, inflation continues to rise, meaning that your peoples’ expenses are rising too. If their income doesn’t match this, they may believe it’s time to move on, regardless of how loyal they may be to the business.

To combat this, you should speak to your network and find someone who can help to formulate a solid bonus structure and reward strategy based on market research. You may find that your teams’ gripes aren’t about the money itself but how much they feel valued by the company.

For example, if they have not been shown any indication of an incentive for a long time, despite taking on extra responsibilities in the business, they will feel as though they are being undervalued by the company. In this case, don’t be surprised to learn that they have already been going to interviews elsewhere.

The Future of the Business

How does the future of the business look in the long-term? If your team catch wind that the business’ future is in doubt, they may look to jump ship before any announcement of closures and opportunities are lost, which would leave them out of work and in desperate need to find new ones in order to pay their bills.

Make sure to be as transparent as possible with your staff members as to the state of the business – for better or worse. This will earn their trust more than anything. When employees can see that there is a clear plan of action, the business is moving in the right direction, and there is not so much uncertainty for the future, they won’t be as tempted to seek other opportunities.