5 strategies to reduce staff turnover

Like most things, there's a combination of lots of things that can help to reduce staff turnover. Each is as important as the next. In isolation, they're most likely ineffective but add them all together, and they can help massively.

The obvious ones that people talk about are pay and hours. While we can't ignore the fact that these play their part, if all you've done is reduce shift time and upped pay slightly, that is most likely not going to have any medium to long term effect in retaining anyone. 

1. Respect
I think a little respect goes a very long way. For too long, the industry has said to people coming into it, ‘come in, plug in and get on with it.’ And then when things go wrong, we’ll shout at you and make you feel worthless. That's not cool.

You have to treat your teams at every level with respect. Respect that everyone is on a different path, respect that there are incredible diversity and individuality in the industry. Respect that one day to the next is incredibly different. Respect that a one size fits all approach to leadership has no place.

2. Leadership
And that's the next key point - leadership. We need better leadership training as a whole throughout the industry. A great deal many people take their title as a sign of leadership, but that is not enough. Leadership is about actions - you have to lead through collaboration, not dictation. Take ownership of errors, adapt, evolve and improve rather than point fingers and call people out.

3. Training
Training is also critical. You have to keep engaging with your teams and keep them learning and motivated. Giving them a sense of belonging and purpose goes a long way to keeping people engaged with your company's journey.

4. Planning
A lot of hospitality businesses are so busy that they spend their time firefighting problems rather than planning solutions. It's a subtle change in your business, but it makes an incredible difference to the progress you can make.

5. Accept any turnover
Finally, you also have to respect the fact that you WILL have staff turnover in your business. It's natural and healthy when the numbers are not high and can do you more harm than good if you are trying to hang on to people whose time it is to fly.