How to Prepare for Summer Employee Turnover
The summertime often brings a lot of unique challenges for business owners. It is typically when people want to take some time off to go on vacation. Many employees lose focus when the weather gets nicer and, for some reason, it also increases turnover rates in many industries. Here are some ways you can prepare for summer employee turnover and possibly prevent it altogether.
Be Ready for Employees to Take Vacation
There are a number of things that may be contributing to the increase in employee turnover during the summer, vacation being one of them. In general, employees are more likely to take a vacation during the summer. During this time, employees are unplugging, recharging, and sometimes re-evaluating their careers. Many employees say they are likely to look for new work upon return from vacation.
Summer vacation also applies to your employees with children. They may feel additional stress from their kids being out of school and be unable to balance their duties at home and work. This may lead to some increased turnover as well. While these things are typically unavoidable, you can prepare for the possibility by working with temporary staff to fill in the gaps. You should also look for the silver lining. This turnover could provide your business with opportunities you may have missed otherwise.
Provide Incentives to Your Staff
Since there is a chance many employees are looking for new work, it is a good idea to consider what incentives you might be able to provide for them to stay. For instance, you may think about offering a more competitive benefits package. Other perks you may offer could be flexible scheduling, which can help parents of school-age kids during the summer. Think about the needs of your staff and how you can better address them.
Perform Annual Reviews
The spring can be a great time to perform annual reviews for your employees. This gives them a chance to hear and see what they are doing well. It can also give you a feel for which employees may be looking at leaving sooner rather than later. On top of that, reviews can actually help improve employee engagement and create a better work environment all around. Both of these things can help decrease turnover.
Look at the Patterns
In general, you should look at the patterns of previous years to determine how much of a problem summer employee turnover will be for you. If you typically lose an employee or several employees over the summer, find a way to be prepared for that loss. You might staff your company with a few temporary seasonal workers until you see how the summer plays out. Whatever the case may be, know what your company’s trends usually are and try to plan for them.
Prepare by Working With a Staffing Agency
If you know that the summertime is usually a time where your staff needs a break or you might be in need of seasonal help, working with a staffing agency is a great idea. They can provide you with seasonal temporary workers who will fill in the gaps in your staff. If it turns out you need to fill a position full-time, they can also place temp-to-hire candidates with your company to assist you with that need as well. Contact The Bradley Group to see how our team of professionals can help you deal with summer employee turnover.
