Do BSCs even have the right information to start fighting high employee turnover?/DECK--> When researching information for an article, writers often find that an entirely different story lies beneath the surface of their original topic. That was the case with this month’s cover story. In the process of compiling reader survey statistics, we came across an anomaly — an average employee turnover rate much lower than we usually hear of in the industry.

We received varied responses when mentioning our survey’s 73 percent turnover rate. Some industry veterans quickly dismissed the number, despite admitting that they hadn’t seen any research to prove their estimation was more accurate. Others admitted the number was possible, but offered multiple ways of getting it that could have explained the difference.

One interviewee even alluded to the fact that it may not be in some BSCs’ best interest to find out what their true turnover rates were; it could either erase an oft-used excuse for poor management or it could show that their supposedly low turnover isn’t that much lower than that of their competitors.

Regardless, the underlying news was that there are too many variations on how to calculate employee turnover rates in this industry. That means most numbers contractors are tossing into conversations probably aren’t as accurate as they should be. And if that’s the case, then BSCs who say employee turnover is the biggest problem they face probably don’t even know the true scope of their troubles.

Could that be why turnover is so tough to reduce? Without accurate numbers, isn’t it almost impossible to know how to target employee retention programs?
So, maybe what the industry needs isn’t another lecture on how to keep employees, but a lesson in how to track corporate trends more efficiently in order to know where to even begin.

Note: The one resource we were told addresses employee turnover is the BSCAI’s 1999/2000 Compensation and Benefits Survey, though we weren’t able to find out if it offers a specific formula.




POSTED ON: 2/1/2001