The ‘Great Resignation’ has been spreading its tentacles worldwide, with Australia also feeling the impact.
NAB research found that 21% of Australians have changed jobs in the past year, while the Elmo Employee Sentiment Index found 43% plan to search for a new job in 2022 and 19% plan to quit their current job whether or not they have another one lined up.
Both reports cite COVID-19 as a factor in employees’ decisions, with workers resigning for a range of reasons, such as:
- Poor work-life balance
- Lack of job fulfilment
- Burnout
- Fear of catching covid
- Vaccine mandates
Of course, people have also been resigning for reasons that have nothing to do with the pandemic. But regardless of whether people leave your organisation due to the Great Resignation or other reasons, staff turnover is very costly. The 2022 HR Industry Benchmark Report, which surveyed more than 1500 HR and payroll professionals, found that:
- The average cost to hire a new employee is $23,860
- It takes 40 days on average to fill a vacant position
- HR spends an average of seven hours per week conducting role-specific training, which is the most time-consuming task performed by HR when onboarding new hires
As an HR professional, you need to get to the bottom of why employees are leaving, so you can make sure the Great Resignation doesn’t harm your company. HR data analytics can help you accomplish that.
How to use HR data analytics to find out why people are resigning
The best way to work out why people might be resigning from your company is to analyse your HR data. If you have the right HR data software – one with end-to-end analytics and reporting – you’ll be able to see:
- Departure rates. You can track how the Great Resignation is affecting your business, by discovering when and in what numbers people have been resigning. This will tell you if the trend is favourable or unfavourable, and whether the ‘quit rate’ appears to have peaked.
Agile HR Analytics (Built on Microsoft Power BI)
- This includes not only gender, age and race, but also other metrics like seniority level and length of service. That will tell you what types of employees are over-represented and under-represented in terms of resignation rates.
- Data patterns. You may notice a high employee turnover in a particular job category or department. For example, you might discover that a disproportionately high number of sales staff are leaving, which in turn might suggest they’re not being led or incentivised properly.
Once you’ve analysed HR data, you can start to build a picture as to why employees are choosing to resign. These may include:
- Negative company culture
- Low pay
- Lack of career opportunities
- Lack of job satisfaction
- Lack of flexibility
- Lack of autonomy
- Lack of diversity and inclusiveness
- Personality clashes
How to use HR data insights to retain employees
The Great Resignation has put power back in the hands of employees. Employers who find themselves with a skills shortage now have to bring more to the table to attract and retain employees.
Armed with your HR data insights, you will understand why employees are leaving and can make data-driven HR decisions to create an environment where employees will want to stay. Responses might include:
- Reviewing your recruitment and remuneration strategies
- Adding more benefits
- Creating a hybrid work model, where employees split their time between the office and working from home
HR data software like Agile HR Analytics will help you take the guesswork out of your HR strategy. Instead of relying on instinct or broad industry statistics, you’ll be able to make informed decisions based on rich, company-level data. That will make your HR department more effective and will help you fight back against the Great Resignation.
Need an HR data analytics solution to improve employee retention? Contact Agile HR Analytics by emailing info@agile-hr-analytics.com or fill in this contact form.
