Reducing Turnover

Jul 8, 2006 12:00 PM, BY MICHAEL FICKES

High turnover is not unique to the security guard industry. It is a problem that afflicts dozens of industries, from long-haul trucking firms to janitorial services.

In the trucking industry, for example, long-haul companies — firms whose drivers spend weeks at a time driving across the country and back — average 100 percent per year in driver turnover, according to Menlo Worldwide, a logistics company based in San Mateo, Calif. For drivers employed by companies serving regional markets that do not require overnight stays on the road, Menlo researchers put the average turnover at just 40 percent.

While it is tempting to blame the kind of work a company does or low wages for turnover, human resource executives consistently say that turnover has more to do with the quality of management than the level of pay or kind of work. “Employees leave and stay for the same reason — how they are managed,” says David Sikora, director of the Gevity Institute, a human resources research lab, operated by Gevity HR Inc., a Bradenton, Fla, firm that provides a range of outsourced human resource services to clients across the country.

What does that mean to the security industry and the 300 percent average rate of turnover among officers?

It means it is possible to improve turnover rates by applying proven human resource management concepts. Even an organization that is well managed and has a relatively low turnover rate can improve by refining its techniques.

Gaithersburg, Md.-based Sodexho Inc. proved the premise in its custodial, grounds and facilities maintenance work for the St. Louis School District. The firm took over from another vendor four years ago. The first vendor had achieved an excellent turnover rate of 20 percent — well below the industry average, which the Building Services Contractors Association International in Fairfax, Va., puts at 30 to 40 percent.

Since taking over, Sodexho has improved significantly on the previous firm's performance. Today, Edwin Morgan, resident district manager for Sodexho's St. Louis School District, reports a 10 percent annual turnover — in a workforce of 450 people.

Morgan lists five keys to the improved performance:

• Regular meetings designed to elicit concerns from employees and to address those issues as they arise instead of allowing them to fester.

• Morgan and his supervisors spend substantial time visiting job sites, reviewing work and soliciting comments on working conditions, such as safety. “Prior to our arrival, safety was not a big issue,” Morgan says. “We have made it a priority and provided all of the tools they might need: goggles, gloves, harnesses, secure ladders and so on.

• Sodexho also provides continuing training by bringing in third parties to demonstrate the latest maintenance tools and procedures as well as new custodial equipment and supplies.

• “We also show employees that we know that it isn't all work,” Morgan says. “We recognize every special day: birthdays, marriage anniversaries, children's graduations and work anniversaries with cards, gifts and even parties.”

• Morgan's group also goes out of its way to create small conveniences that might make a difference in how an employee feels about his or her job. Recently, for example, Morgan installed an ice machine in the common room. On a hot day, employees can grab some ice to help them cool off.

Consultants say that Morgan's experience reflects those of managers that hire employees that fit in with the organization's culture, engage employees in their projects, and build a family-like workplace. “When employers apply these kinds of ideas, employee retention increases up to 68 percent,” Sikora says. “There is a direct link between employee management practices, employee retention and improvements in sales and profits. Companies with higher retention levels experience 22 percent better sales growth and 23 percent faster profit growth.”

These principles apply to any and all businesses, consultants say. According to David Annunziata, director of government solutions with the Performance Assessment Network Inc., a human resources consulting firm based in Carmel, Ind., a company can reduce turnover by managing the full lifecycle of an employee's tenure with a company.

This starts with hiring people that fit in with a company's culture, Annunziata says. Putting round pegs in square holes guarantees turnover. Next, engaging employees more fully in their jobs gives them a reason to stay. People who like their jobs usually do not quit.

“One of our clients in the pharmaceutical industry emphasizes the idea of engaging its employees in the mission and vision of the company,” Annunziata says. “Not long ago, I was talking to a guy working on the firm's assembly line. His job was to make sure that every bottle coming off the line got into a box for shipping. I asked him what he did for the company. Without missing a beat, he said ‘I save lives. If my medicine doesn't get to people, people can die. So I save lives by what I do.’

“This guy will never quit his job. He's making $11 or $12 per hour, but he gets a lot of satisfaction and pride from where he is working. That's why he stays.”

There is no reason that guard company managers cannot engage security officers that strongly in their work. After all, the ultimate goal of all security officers is to keep people safe.

SHARE YOUR STORY

This page offers an opportunity for readers to share management lessons they have learned and to provide other helpful information to their peers in the industry. To offer suggestions, or to contribute to this page, contact Larry Anderson at (770) 618-0118 or e-mail landerson@securitysolutions.com

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© 2012 Penton Media Inc.

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