The next time you see your Human Resources person at work, ask them what company turnover costs. The cost of losing an employee for any reason includes advertising the open position, interviewing applicants, covering the work during the time the position is open, training the new person, and undoubtedly more. For most businesses, this amount is well into the thousands, even in excess of $10,000, for each and every vacancy throughout the year. Now imagine for a moment that the total cost of replacing these positions across your payroll could be trimmed by thousands of dollars per employee.
On a national level, a study done by Mind Share Partners found that 50% of millennials and 75% of Gen Z’ers have left a job for mental health reasons. And while many companies in our area do need to do a better job of being responsive to the mental health needs of their staff, there are roughly 80,000 people employed in Wichita for whom work is the largest stressor in their life. And on any given day, an estimated 1,900 people cope with that stress by simply skipping work.
When is the last time you sat down one-on-one with a co-worker or direct report, put away your phone, looked them in the eye, and asked them how they were? Not in passing, not on your way to your next meeting, not across the conference table in front of ten other people. But in a way that demonstrated to them that you genuinely wanted to know the whole and truthful answer? It takes some time, but it’s a small price to pay when weighed against the cost of losing a good employee.
