Low (or no) turnover - what's their secret?

[whiskeytangofoxtrot]

I've always told my current supervisor that as long as I'm happy, I'm not going anywhere.

Other people define it differently, but to me, happy= respected and valued. Lately, I'm keeping an eye out for greener pastures, though...

[oceanus]

Personally, I don't see low turnover as a good thing. To me, that signals that a company is willing to hold on to dead weight in order to avoid the uncomfortable situation of firing. (Or, perhaps, that management is unwilling to admit that they make hiring mistakes.)

That said, I think a desirable workplace is one with clear goals & standards for employees, with honest, compassionate management that rewards innovation and results.

Just because a person has been at their job for a long time does not mean they are "dead weight" that management was/is afraid to fire.

I have many friends and relatives who after 10, 15+ years are still at their jobs, and have moved up the ranks at several well-known companies and organizations.  They are not dead weight and their management made no mistake in hiring them. Quite the contrary.

A revolving door company with people frequently quitting usually means there are things wrong internally - the job was misrepresented, expectations are unreasonable, lots of infighting, people not paid fairly or some other internal factor. 

I don't see how high turnover can be seen as a good thing, but obviously we see the situation differently.

[Cat-Fu]

I never said high turnover is good—in fact, I see that as a red flag to jump ship even *more* than no/low turnover. I also don't recall saying that it's bad for people to stay at a company for a long time—although it is often difficult to tell the difference from the outside between company loyalty and the person who has entrenched themselves deeply in a company to hide their mediocrity.

There is always a happy medium.

[Hmmmmm]

I never said high turnover is good—in fact, I see that as a red flag to jump ship even *more* than no/low turnover. I also don't recall saying that it's bad for people to stay at a company for a long time—although it is often difficult to tell the difference from the outside between company loyalty and the person who has entrenched themselves deeply in a company to hide their mediocrity.

There is always a happy medium.

I agree with Cat-Fu.  In most large companies, there is an expectation of some turn over.  No turn over means less opportunities for newer employees to advance.  It also reduces the influx of new ideas and experiences. My department in my Fortune 500 company is currently dealing with this right now.  We have average turnover in the lower pay grades, but with the higher ones, we've all gotten pretty comfy/cozy in our jobs and with our benefits and if we get bored with our current role, we switch with someone else so we get the opportunity for new challenges too.  If we don't start seeing some turn over in my level, we are going to start loosing more of our lower ranks because they don't have the opportunity to advance. 

[oceanus]

OP here. The company I referenced in my initial post has less than 10 people (8 to be exact).  In addition to low/no turnover, to say they are very successful in their field would be an understatement.  I don't think that 'dead weight', or 'lack of influx of new ideas and experiences' are issues.

[girlysprite]

I see that good management, where people feel that they are valuable, often goes hand in hand with decent pay and good benefits. I think that when management believes in the worth of their workers and respect them, they often also engage in other efforts to 'reward' those who work for them, by giving good pay and benefits.

[CakeBeret]

I would say the #1 thing would be good management/valuing employees.

My husband works as a Widget Maker. He has pretty much the most plush job a Widget Maker can have. It's with a large company, so he has plenty of work; he gets paid per hour rather than per widget; he has good benefits and great pay for his field; he has optional overtime which pays extremely well; and he has opportunity for advancement. 90% of Widget Makers are not so lucky.

And yet, his experience at this job has been hell because of a bad boss. He is constantly berated, told that his productivity--while well above average--is not good enough, told that he is worthless and replaceable, and literally screamed at for any and every minor infraction. His boss has never had any formal management training and seems to think that intimidation is the best tactic. It's no wonder that, despite the plushness of his job, his location has very high turnover.

The worst part is that he's spent years looking for a job in his field that pays near his current salary and offers benefits, to no avail.

(Thankfully, a transfer is in the works and we will likely be relocating soon!)

[oceanus]

He is constantly berated, told that his productivity--while well above average--is not good enough, told that he is worthless and replaceable, and literally screamed at for any and every minor infraction.

  Yikes.

Sometimes for whatever reason(s), a horrible boss is tolerated, and can be responsible for a lot of turnover.

Transfer sounds like a really good idea.  No one should have to put up with that.

[Jocelyn]

The best bosses I have had created a safe environment, where it was OK to own up to making a mistake; you were encouraged to learn new skills; you were seen as an individual, not a widgit; you were trusted to do your job with a minimum of oversight but with adequate supervision; and they responded to your personal crises with sympathy and an attitude of 'of course you have to take off'.
Bad bosses I've had were people who were constantly reminding you that you were lucky to work for them; they pounced and punished mistakes, as if punishment were the only way workers could be motivated; and there was not only no acknowledgement that workers had personal lives, they were scolded for having them. And they did boneheaded things, like telling us we would get a small Christmas bonus...if we paid for the Christmas card they put it in.