How to Increase Your New Employee Retention Rates

The need to hire and retain top talent is necessary for any employer, especially those in the commercial construction and manufacturing industries. It’s hard enough for employers in this industry to find talent, let alone retain it year after year.

Employee turnover statistics show how challenging it is to find good talent and keep it. Skilled workers are in high demand, and there is no shortage of new employment opportunities for them.

Are you interested in learning how to find, hire, and retain top talent for your construction projects or manufacturing facilities?

Keep reading to gain insight into some of the most eye-opening new hire retention statistics. We’ll then share some expert tips on how to increase your new employee retention rates.

New Hire Retention Statistics

You want your recruiting and hiring process to be smooth and effective. It’s also crucial for your hiring process to quickly set new employees up for success.

A significant challenge for skilled labor employers is finding and retaining the talent needed for to meet their goals and objectives. 

Here are three employee retention facts that show some of the costs and factors involved in employee turnover and retention.

1. High Average Cost-per-hire

A recent study found that the average cost of hiring a new employee is $4,000. If you find yourself constantly needing to hire new employees, this is a significant drain on your resources.

The cost of finding and hiring a new employee is high. There are actual monetary costs (as stated above), time costs, and other intangible costs. The bottom line is that hiring new employees will cost you. 

New employee retention is crucial for cutting down on unnecessary hiring costs.

2. Increased Voluntary Employee Turnover

Voluntary employee turnover rates are steadily increasing, and experts project they’ll keep growing. Since 2010, voluntary employee turnover has increased by 88%. The skilled labor workforce isn’t immune to these turnover rates.

Skilled workers are in high demand and have many job opportunities. If they don’t feel valued or cared for at their current job, they can find another. Voluntary employee turnover can leave skilled labor employers with unfilled positions, decreased productivity, and lost time and money.

3. Onboarding Impact on Retention 

One study found that 69% of employees stay for at least three years at a job after a good onboarding process. Employees are ten times more likely to leave at one year than after five years, so having a good onboarding process plays a pivotal role in decreasing the turnover rate. 

This onboarding statistic shows that it’s not just about hiring employees, but also doing what’s necessary to set them up for long-term success. The better your onboarding process, the longer you can expect your employees to stick around.

As an employer, you may have firsthand experience with the costs of hiring new employees or high turnover rates. However, we assure you that there’s a way to overcome these hiring and retaining challenges.

Overcoming New Hire Attrition

A good hiring process allows you to find the best possible tradesmen and get the right people on the team. Once you get a promising hire on the team, an effective onboarding process keeps them around. You need both the hiring and onboarding processes to retain employees and avoid high new hire attrition rates.

Let’s talk about how to quickly find top talent, followed by some marks of an effective onboarding process.

Skilled Labor Recruiting

The skilled labor industries have been facing a labor shortage for years now. The biggest roadblock to hiring success isn’t the shortage itself, but actually a fear of change, specifically a change in the hiring process. 

We know what you might be thinking, “I recognize a need for new hiring practices, but we can’t afford to take the time or money to implement one.”

What if you’re losing more money by not changing? What if there’s a sustainable solution to your hiring problem that you’re missing out on by not making a change? If staffing continues to be a significant challenge for your company, it’s time to think outside the box.

Consider partnering with a skilled labor recruiting agency that takes a travel staffing approach to hiring. These agencies do all the heavy lifting of finding candidates, so you won’t need to spend personal or company time looking for new hires. A labor recruiter allows you to fill employment holes quickly and keep production high. 

It’s not uncommon to come across bad recruiters, so make sure you do your research and look for these marks of a good labor recruiting agency:

• An initial obligation-free consultation
• A multi-level vetting process
• A travel-staffing approach
• A large pool of candidates
• Flexible staffing
• A new hire trial period

Finding a trade staffing agency that checks these boxes can alleviate the burden of hiring and provide you with ready access to new hires when you need them.

Onboarding

Once you have access to high-quality candidates, you’ll want to create an onboarding and training process. The best onboarding processes acclimate new hires to the work environment and get them in a position to provide value quickly.

An onboarding process should include:

• Getting forms and paperwork filled out (potentially even before the new hire’s first day)
• The opportunity to meet members of the team and see the site or facility
• An orientation on the company’s culture, values, and expectations
• Necessary company-specific training
• Follow-up meetings for the next few weeks and months to provide feedback

Ultimately, creating a good onboarding process is about providing your new hires with all the information and skills they need to feel comfortable in their new environment. Your onboarding process should set up new hires to succeed in the coming weeks and months.

How to Avoid Negative Employee Turnover Statistics

The end goal of any trade labor recruiting process isn’t simply hiring a new employee—it’s hiring and retaining them. 

If you don’t have a good hiring process, then you’ll be spending lots of time and money looking for new employees. Additionally, a poor retention strategy can also lead to new hire attrition. To increase new employee retention, you need to find the right talent the first time.

Want to avoid becoming part of the negative new hire retention statistics?

Skillwork is a travel-staffing agency for skilled labor employers. Our tried-and-true vetting and recruiting process allow us to find high-quality candidates at a high rate—80% of the time we can find the right worker. That means less time and money you spend looking for new hires or dealing with constant employee turnover. With our recruiting process, you can expect to:

• Grow your business
• Improve your bottom line
• Reduce risk

Schedule an obligation-free consultation with one of our expert skilled trade Recruiters today. We’ll share with you how we can get your staffing needs met without the fear of employee turnover.