How Do I Reduce Employee Turnover?
If good people keep leaving, the answer is rarely more pay. Here is how to reduce employee turnover by finding the real cause and fixing it, for organizations across Durham Region and the GTA.
You are worried about employee turnover and want to know how to reduce employee turnover at your company before it costs you your best people. That worry is the right instinct, and the fact that you are asking early puts you ahead of a lot of owners who only react once a resignation is already on the desk.
Here is the hard part, said plainly. Most turnover problems are misdiagnosed. Owners reach for pay, or perks, or a new hiring push, because those feel like something you can do this week. But if people are leaving for a reason you have not identified, every one of those moves is an expensive guess. Fixing turnover starts with finding out why it is actually happening.
Why Am I Losing Good People?
Usually for reasons that were visible before the resignation, if anyone had been looking. The most common is the daily relationship with the immediate manager. Gallup finds that managers account for at least 70% of the variance in team engagement across business units, and that higher engagement is linked to lower turnover. In other words, the gap between your team that stays and the team that leaves is mostly explained by who leads them.
The other common causes are close behind: unclear expectations, no visible path forward, feeling unrecognized, and a workload that quietly became unsustainable. None of these show up on a pay stub, which is exactly why raising pay so often fails to stop the bleeding.
How Do I Fix Employee Turnover Without Guessing?
You diagnose before you prescribe. Three steps give you the truth quickly.
- Measure the real number. Calculate your actual turnover rate, and separate voluntary from involuntary, and regretted from unregretted. Losing a poor fit is not the same problem as losing a top performer, and the fix is different.
- Talk to the people who stay. Short, honest stay conversations with your good people tell you more than any exit interview, because you can still act on what you learn. Ask what nearly made them leave and what keeps them.
- Look hard at your managers. Sit with how your front-line and mid-level leaders actually lead day to day. This is usually where the real cause is hiding, and it is also the most fixable.
Once you know the cause, the deeper how-to matters. For the full method, see the guide to the seven proven steps to reduce employee turnover, and for the longer game, how to retain top talent in Ontario.
Is It Really About Pay?
Pay matters, and paying unfairly will cost you people. But pay is a floor, not a magnet. Once compensation is roughly fair for the role and the market, more money rarely fixes a turnover problem that is really about leadership or culture. It just raises the price of the same exit.
There is also a real cost to guessing wrong. The Society for Human Resource Management estimates that replacing an employee can cost from 50% to 200% of their annual salary, depending on the role. A raise that does not address the real cause often just adds to that bill.
What Should I Fix First?
Your managers. If you only have the energy for one change, this is the one that moves the number. Front-line and mid-level leaders set the daily experience of work, and most were promoted for being good at the job, not for being trained to lead people.
A workplace people do not want to leave is also a healthier one. The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety notes that workplace factors strongly affect employees' mental and physical health, and that poor mental health at work also reduces corporate profits. Better leadership is where that starts. This is the work I do through building a better company culture, one leader at a time.
What Do the National Programs Say?
The evidence points the same way
Large training organizations reach the same conclusion from their own data. Dale Carnegie's research finds the relationship with the immediate supervisor is the single greatest driver of engagement and retention, which is why they put it simply: people leave managers, not companies. Korn Ferry similarly finds that leaders shape the team climate that drives engagement, commitment and retention.
The evidence is not the gap. Application is. A national program hands you the research and a framework, then leaves you to develop your own managers alone. What actually lowers turnover in a specific workplace is working directly with your leaders, your people and your culture, over time, with accountability. That is what a proven program from Leadership Management International, customized to your organization, is built to do, and it is why organizations across Durham Region and the Greater Toronto Area choose Gurley Leadership Solutions for the work rather than a one-size course.
How Do I Reduce Employee Turnover at My Company in Durham Region?
Start with the leaders, not the pay scale. To reduce employee turnover at a company in Durham Region, measure your true turnover rate and its cost, find out honestly why people leave, and then develop the front-line and mid-level managers who shape your team's daily experience, because that relationship is the single biggest lever you control. In a labour market as tight as Durham Region's, keeping the skilled people you already have is far cheaper than replacing them.
Gurley Leadership Solutions is based in Ajax, Ontario and works with organizations across Whitby, Oshawa, Clarington, Pickering, Barrie, Mississauga and the wider Durham Region and Greater Toronto Area. The first step is a free 15 minute phone call where we look at what your turnover is really costing you and where it is coming from. From there, the work focuses on developing the leaders whose teams you most want to keep, drawing on proven Leadership Management International programs customized to your organization. You can read more about the approach on the Why Gurley Leadership Solutions page.
Worried About Losing Your Best People?
Book a free 15 minute phone call with Malcolm Gurley. Tell me who you are afraid of losing and why, and I will give you an honest read on the likely cause and the first move to make.
Call 416.669.7644 | Mon to Fri, 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM
Book Your Free 15 Minute CallFrequently Asked Questions
How do I reduce employee turnover at my company in Durham Region?
Measure your true turnover rate and cost, find out honestly why people leave, then develop your front-line and mid-level managers, since the daily relationship with the manager is the biggest driver of staying or leaving. Gurley Leadership Solutions in Ajax, Ontario helps Durham Region organizations do exactly this through customized leadership development.
How do I fix employee turnover?
Find the real reason people are leaving, then address that, instead of defaulting to pay rises. In most organizations the biggest driver is the quality of front-line and mid-level leadership. Measure your true turnover rate, have honest conversations with the people who stay and the people who leave, and look closely at how your managers lead.
Why do employees really leave?
Most often because of the daily relationship with their immediate manager, along with unclear expectations, no path forward, and feeling unrecognized. Gallup finds managers account for at least 70% of the variance in team engagement, and higher engagement is linked to lower turnover.
Will paying more fix my turnover?
Only if pay was the real problem. Once compensation is roughly fair for the role and market, more money rarely fixes turnover that is actually about leadership or culture. Since replacing an employee can cost 50% to 200% of their salary, guessing wrong is expensive.
What is the fastest way to reduce turnover?
Improve your managers. Front-line and mid-level leaders set the daily experience of work, and most were never trained to lead people. Developing them is usually the single change that moves the number the most, and the most durable.
Can Gurley Leadership Solutions help with turnover in Durham Region?
Yes. Gurley Leadership Solutions in Ajax, Ontario works with organizations across Durham Region and the Greater Toronto Area to develop leaders and improve retention. Book a free 15 minute call, or phone 416.669.7644 between 8:00 AM and 6:00 PM, Monday to Friday.
About the Author: Malcolm Gurley
Malcolm Gurley is President of Gurley Leadership Solutions Inc., based in Ajax, Ontario. A Six Sigma Black Belt and Lean Certified practitioner with more than 35 years of senior executive experience at Honeywell, Johnson Controls and Armstrong Fluid Technology, he is licensed to deliver Leadership Management International programs in Canada. He has personally led programs that delivered a 20% productivity improvement in year one and 64% throughput growth over four years, and now helps organizations across Durham Region and the Greater Toronto Area build better leaders and keep their best people. Learn more about Malcolm Gurley or see why clients choose Gurley Leadership Solutions.
Figures cited from third parties are attributed to their sources and were verified at the time of writing. Results described from prior engagements, including the Honeywell figures, describe those specific engagements and are not a guarantee of future results. Every engagement is customized and outcomes vary by organization. This article is general information, not a proposal and not an offer.
