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came before employees received ‘Anything to slow down the
promotions. The company was able to
lower attrition by creating and rate of attrition can help the
communicating a career progression
framework that helped people organisation be more effective.’
understand what their first five years
with the company could look like, which
demonstrated that there was a pathway Alastair Woods, the London-based joint global PwC leader for people analytics and
to promotion and larger salaries if they partner in PwC UK’s People & Organisation consulting practice
stayed.
In another case, one of Woods’s
clients found that the greatest turnover
wasn’t amongst people with the highest
performance ratings but with those just to keep, Lieberman said. Natural attrition in setting performance expectations or
below that level, mainly people in their can bring in new people and makes it interpreting performance data. Some
30s who were worried about mortgages possible to promote others. “You don’t people may be able to accomplish all of
and childcare expenses and were seeking want a revolving door,” Morris said. “But their work in six hours at home, even
higher raises than they had been getting. you don’t want to hold on to all of them.” though they had remained at their office
In this situation, an organisation can Good performance and talent for eight hours in the past because it was
decide whether it’s worth offering more measurement systems can help identify expected, Morris said. That may force
money and opportunities to this group which employees are most valuable. organisations to revisit some of the
or specific valued individuals within it. However, organisations should keep in productivity metrics they have used in
In both cases, “data is absolutely the mind that, in some cases, poor the past. The key takeaway is that
key”, Woods said. performance reviews may reflect low retention will always require a balance
employee engagement. Globally, 20% of between data and personal engagement,
Don’t assume the effort is too complex employees are engaged at work, she said.
The necessary tools are relatively simple according to a Gallup study.
to implement and readily available, One danger is that organisations will Get a seat at the table
Woods said. The first step is to extract allow good people to leave when better “Information is power,” Lieberman said.
information from an HR information engagement might have made them “It can allow companies to make better
system, such as Workday, into a more effective and productive. A strong human resource decisions.”
dashboard. In working with clients, he interpersonal relationship with a Rising wages and labour shortages
typically uses bespoke dashboards that supervisor may help identify — and have pushed companies to take more
are based on a reasonably priced tool ultimately keep — these people. interest in retention data, according to
such as Tableau. The power is not in the “You can’t get to a place where Woods. “Anything to slow down the rate
technology tool itself but in the employee retention can be fully of attrition can help the organisation be
visualisation that’s possible in a digitised,” Morris said. “People want to more effective.”
dashboard and the ability to manipulate be heard and listened to. They want Some organisations are using agile
it live. someone to ask how they’re doing.” squads — small multidisciplinary teams
“With Excel, you have to really A strong employee user experience is with specific focuses — to address issues
interrogate it to get the data you need,” another advantage in recruiting. That such as retention, Woods said. Finance
he said. “Now you can have the data all includes providing updated technology should have a seat at that table along
in one place on a dashboard that can that makes it easier for employees to do with HR and project management
illustrate trends across the organisation their jobs, collaborate, or access experts, he said. “This approach helps
or in a narrow sector and show the important internal data or their own HR the organisation connect the dots
patterns.” information. between workforce strategy, attrition,
In a small organisation, a junior Also, counteroffers may keep good and skills gaps, and allows for more
person could be assigned to set up a employees from leaving. Morris said that targeted interventions that touch on pay,
process for analysing attrition using many organisations she works with use taking a more customised offering to
these steps, he said. Organisations that data analytics and business intelligence critical individuals rather than a blanket
are reluctant to make a large upfront tools to gather market data from the approach.” ■
investment could begin with a trial internet to analyse comparable
subscription to test out the best tools for compensation for existing internal team
them. members as well as for new positions
being recruited for in the organisation. Anita Dennis is a freelance financial
Don’t overlook the human factor The ability to mine this information writer based in the US. To comment on
Analytics are a valuable tool, but they allows for real-time salary comparisons this article or to suggest an idea for
can’t replace professional judgement to help retain and recruit. another article, contact Drew Adamek
that can decide, for example, which The shift to remote work during the at Andrew.Adamek@aicpa-cima.com.
employees the organisation really wants pandemic is another key consideration

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