High turnover in our local governments is expensive. It lowers the performance of the city and forces expensive recruitment and training of new employees. So what makes our employees want to leave their jobs? When it’s time to work on the budget, we hear a lot about wages and beneifits, but are there other factors at play?
Well, a recent study set out to answer the question, and the answers they discovered were interesting. While pay and benefits are a factor in turnover and retention, they are outweighed by factors that contribute to a healthy work environment such as participation in decision-making, procedural justice, and support from one’s supervisor.
You can read the full write-up on the study linked below, but it’s important to understand why this matters in Minot, too. We’ve focused heavily on the wage side of the equation when it comes to improving employee turnover rates, but work-culture improvements are shown to be better at moving the needle. Perhaps we’re focusing efforts in the wrong place?
