Struggling with turnover? Here’s how to build a workplace where people want to stay.

Some employees are not the right fit for your company. This turnover is unregrettable, and letting them go can be addition by subtraction. Regrettable turnover, however, includes high-performing employees who vote with their feet. Differentiating the turnover is vital because you address the problems differently. 

Unregrettable turnover means you have a hiring problem. You need to improve your process to identify and attract right-fit prospects who will buy into your culture and grow with your company.

Regrettable turnover may indicate leadership or culture problems. Do people feel like they are growing and developing or stagnating? Do they feel out of place in your company? Are their leaders inspiring them to contribute their best?

Avoid Managing the Metrics

You should pay careful attention to turnover, but beware of the perverse incentives. Evaluating your managers on turnover could lead them to manage the metrics. They may seek to reduce unregrettable turnover by not enforcing standards, for example, which leads to more wrong-fit employees and more significant frustration for your high performers.

Example: Salesforce’s Focus on Employee Growth to Reduce Regrettable Turnover

Salesforce, a global leader in customer relationship management (CRM) software, faced challenges with regrettable turnover among its top performers in the competitive tech industry. To address this, the company implemented a comprehensive employee development strategy centered around two key elements:

1. Customized Career Development Plans: Salesforce introduced personalized career paths tailored to each employee’s goals and strengths. They created opportunities for growth within the company, including structured internal mobility programs to allow high-performing employees to transition into new roles that matched their aspirations.
2. Leadership Coaching and Feedback: Recognizing that leadership quality was a critical factor in regrettable turnover, Salesforce invested heavily in training its managers to provide better coaching and feedback. Leaders held regular one-on-one meetings to ensure employees felt valued, challenged, and supported in their growth.

Results:

• A reduction in regrettable turnover, particularly among high-performing employees who previously felt stagnant or underappreciated.
• Increased employee engagement scores, reflecting a stronger sense of belonging and opportunity within the company.
• Retention of institutional knowledge, ensuring Salesforce could continue delivering value without the costly disruptions of high turnover.

This example illustrates how investing in leadership development and personalized growth opportunities can directly combat the root causes of regrettable turnover while fostering a culture where top talent thrives.

Creating an Employee Development Strategy

Create an employee development strategy by designing a double-axis chart with short-term and long-term on the horizontal axis and tangible and intangible on the vertical axis. This chart helps you identify both the tangible benefits, like pay and perks, and intangible benefits, like career growth, purpose, and a positive work environment. People are drawn to workplaces where they align with the values and see clear paths for personal and professional growth. When you compete on culture and development rather than focusing solely on short-term tangibles, you create a workplace that retains top talent and inspires excellence.

Building an Inspiring Culture

During my February 12 masterclass, Building an Inspiring Culture, I’ll discuss how to fit this tool within your culture strategy so you decrease both regrettable and unregrettable turnover while boosting your profitability. 

Register by February 9, and you’ll get lifetime access to my signature online, video-based program, Building an Inspiring Culture, which gives you the step-by-step processes to create a culture that advances your goals and evolves and grows with your company.

Everyone who registers gets the video recording, so don’t worry if you have a conflict on February 12.