Reading your article "Where do you stand on staff turnover?" (Caterer, 6 April, page 44), I felt that certain aspects of the article missed the mark.
The costs of labour turnover are actually higher than the article implies. What about the loss of business, impact on quality, additional management time, and missed opportunities through underperformance? What about the knock-on effects on the rest of the team that occurs not just when the employees actually leave, but when they decide they're unhappy enough to leave? This can be six to 12 months before they actually go.
Second, while I agree that exit interviews are an essential starting point, it's important to understand that most of the time employers are unlikely to get a totally honest response at these interviews. The employees probably don't want to burn their bridges, may need references, and may even be concerned about money owed to them in their final pay packet.
Employees who say they left for a "better job" aren't telling you what flicked the switch within them to decide to leave in the first place. Without understanding this motivation, businesses really can't get to the root of the problem.
It's the same with customers. Most unhappy customers won't bother to tell you - they'll just leave and never come back.
Third, are we implying that 26.5% labour turnover is a target to aim at? That's still a hell of a cost to stand every year in an industry that's already short of good staff. Shouldn't we be aiming for a vastly lower number, with a view to developing and retaining the best talent we have?
The final key point that wasn't mentioned was that the adage is true - people don't leave jobs, they leave managers. If managers were recruited for their skills and competence rather than their job history, the task of reducing labour turnover, increasing staff performance and therefore increasing bottom-line profit would be much easier. This is a people business after all, whether we're talking about staff or customers. I believe we create our own monster right from the start by not focusing on recruiting the right people in the first place.
Chantal Walton
Director, HR on Tap
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