Reducing Turnover: How to Keep The Right People Onboard with Strategic HR

Retaining top talent is more crucial than ever. High turnover disrupts teams and hinders organizational progress. However, keeping the right employees involves more than offering attractive perks. For example, it involves fostering an environment that values diversity, equity, and inclusion. In this week’s episode of FLORES Solutions, Mia Arnesano, our Chief HR Officer, explores how tailored training and robust learning management systems (LMS) can help HR professionals and business executives nurture an inclusive and engaging workplace culture. She discusses: 

• Understanding turnover and navigating challenges
• Analyzing turnover in today’s workplace
• Strategic employee retention techniques 
• Leveraging LMS for employee growth/development 
• Adapting to trends, legal, and market changes 

Check out more FLORES Solutions videos to discover best practices for enhancing business efficiency. Please contact our team to learn more about outsourcing your accounting and HR with professional, accurate services that keep you in compliance.

Audio Transcript

Rosalie (00:01):

Let’s get started. Welcome everyone. My name is Rosalie Mendoza with FLORES’s Business Development and Consulting Division. Today’s webinar is: Reducing Turnover, How to Keep the Right People on Board. I’m thrilled to kick off this webinar and I’m especially excited to introduce our webinar speaker, FLORES’s Chief HR Officer and legal consultant Mia Arnesano. With Mia’s extensive experience and expertise in legal and human resources management, internationally and globally, she brings a wealth of knowledge and diversity to the table. Mia has been instrumental in shaping and strategizing on providing the best solutions to companies like yours in all aspects of HR. During our one-hour session, Mia will delve into the critical aspects of reducing turnover, offering insights, strategies, and best practices to ensure we retain the best talent within your organization. Whether you’re a business owner, HR professional, manager, or an employee eager to contribute to a positive work environment, you’re in for an enlightening session. Following her presentation we’ll have a dedicated time for questions and answers, so be sure to send in your questions using the QA box below. Without further ado, let’s extend a warm welcome to Mia as we embark on this journey to learn how to keep the right people on board. Mia, over to you.

Mia (01:34):

Wonderful. Thank you so much, Rosalie, for that remarkable lengthy introduction. Thank you. Welcome everyone. Well, we may have attendees in different time zones, so I’m going to say good morning, good afternoon, and good evening. I’m sure you are not hearing about turnover for the first time. Some of you may have attended webinars or seminars that are similar to this topic and you wonder what is new. Same old, same old, but you attended with the idea of wanting to know a little bit more. So let us get to the real reason why you registered and attended this webinar. In our rapidly changing business environment, holding on to top talent is more crucial than ever. As we all know, high turnover disrupts teams and can prevent organizational progress. Yet retaining the right employees requires more than just attractive perks. It necessitates creating an environment that values diversity, equity, and inclusion.

(02:39):

Yes, yes, I know. I know a lot of you or many of you continue to hear these words or its acronym, DEI. This basically means we’re all employees regardless of generation, regardless of culture feel valued and empowered. Today, we’re addressing the unique challenges posed by our multi-generational workforce we all know we are currently experiencing and the increasing impact of artificial intelligence or AI. I’m sure all of you know that acronym as well in our workplaces. We’ll explore how tailored training and robust learning management systems can support you, HR professionals, and even business executives like yourselves in nurturing an inclusive and engaging workplace culture. How to strategize and how to be proactive rather than reactive. I’m sure all of us want to be in that spot while still being in compliance. All right, so let’s get to it. Understanding turnover, though we may all know the definition of turnover, we all hear this word every time and have experience with turnover, not everyone fully understands what it means.

(03:55):

Why do people leave or why do they need to be dismissed? Do we identify these challenges and do something about it? Turnover is a normal part of business life and it’s okay. It’s okay, and we do not need to view that negatively in any way or means provided we are taking actions to lessen it, doing something about it. Employees leave for a variety of reasons; do not take it personally and that’s crucial. But people’s aspirations and circumstances in life change and this is often beyond our control, your control or even influence. But with that said, be competitive. Don’t stop, reflect and learn, plan for succession. And for those who anticipate increased turnover in 2024, many point to these factors: better pay or benefits package offered elsewhere, increased workplace demands, employees’ feelings of being overworked, burnt out, no room for growth or development, getting bored, getting ordinary, same old, same old.

(05:07):

Why are we continuing to still be here? We all experienced the high turnover rates in 2021, as you all know, we all experienced and we were all in that spot too, which has been named Turnover Tsunami or otherwise. You all know about the Great Resignation and now there are folks talking about another wave called the Silver Tsunami. Oh, here we go again. Oh no. Besides the potential labor shortages, the new wave of boomer retirements can leave significant knowledge gaps in multiple industries from healthcare and construction to retail and hospitality. According to a recent survey published by Forbes, large businesses lose $3,000 per employee every year due to a loss of knowledge. This can also lead to employers losing their ability to train and retrain the younger generations. So are we understanding turnover? Are we doing something about it? That’s the question, right?

(06:16):

All right, the next thing I want to dive into further is analyzing turnover. In today’s workforce, we have to understand what we’re actually dealing with. What are the problems and what are we doing? Something. We have to do something about it. We have to analyze the data. Now understanding a little bit more about turnover in a different perspective, we have the datapoint but it’s a matter of doing something about it. Analyzing what is accurate, strategizing; we need to move forward. We cannot live in the past making the same old mistakes, having the same problems, providing the same solutions but it’s not working, right? It may have worked prior but now it’s different. Times have changed. Turnover analysis can be very helpful in understanding the strengths and weaknesses of your organization. Numbers, as you all know, especially in businesses, do not lie, right? Your paychecks, payroll, all of this data does not lie.

(07:22):

Numbers do not lie — provided you are gathering accurate data. There is so much information out there, so many possible solutions to a problem. There’s a solution to this. This can be a gray area, this is the solution but is it the right and best solution for your business, for your team? What should you start with? When there is a strategic analysis of data that is provided to you, it can be gathered. Let’s say for example, exit interviews. Do you have that in place? Do you have surveys in place for employee feedback? Making it anonymous so they’re able to open up more research metrics? Do you do goals and status check-ins with your employees? So much more data to analyze. Analyzing is important to turnover because if you don’t analyze your data, you are spending time really doing nothing and the problem continues to exist until it comes to a point that you need antibiotics to cure it and sometimes it may not be curable.

(08:30):

So let’s dive into what you should analyze when it comes to turnover in a workplace and some ideas about it. One reason people leave is limited perceived career path. These days, college-age workers see restaurant or retail work or industries as a stopgap, not a long-term career option. That’s in their heads. They’re simply looking for ways to earn a bit of money until they find better permanent employment. So how can we be competitive? How can we be different? How can we move forward? Next is work or life balance. Employees often complain about long hours that impinge on family and personal time. Are families important? Work and life balance is important. Millennials in particular expect more control over their work and life balance and that’s currently what we are living in as generations and generations come in, technology and so on and so forth. But what are you doing about it?

(09:34):

Are you embracing that change? Next is stress due to understaffing. Yes, during the whole Great Resignation that we all experienced, there was high staff turnover. This often leaves gaps in the schedule, having to cover shifts, which means a smaller number of employees are stretched to work longer hours or cover more roles to keep things running smoothly. Those quality employees really care about the business, to make us thrive, to make us survive, but we all know that is not sustainable in the long run, right? Now, one thing I’d also like to talk about, AI. How can AI help in analyzing turnover in today’s workforce? I’m sure all of you have learned about this. All of you hear about this. It’s what we breathe right now, what we do right now, but how can we be competitive? How can we not fear that we lose our jobs? How can we fear not losing employees?

(10:41):

One thing for sure is we can use it to our advantage and embrace that change. We can have predictive analysis in place. AI can analyze large datasets to identify patterns and predict which employees are at risk of leaving. We have that now. So let’s use it to our advantage. Factors, for example, like job performance, engagement levels, employee interactions, and even external job market trends can be considered through predictive analysis. Next, enhanced onboarding and training. Prior it was paperwork and it’s time-consuming. There can be data entries, human errors, but enhance onboarding, enhance that onboarding experience. Have training in place during onboarding so you know you’re setting them up for success. Assess their skills. Interviewing is not enough. An interview can maybe be just the initial step. They put their best foot forward but you need to know them. You need to train them because again, it’s a new company they’re dealing with and new processes in place though they may have that experience.

(11:50):

So identify the gaps in employees skill set and recommend personalized training programs because one size does not fit all. And then optimizing talent management can also be one thing you can analyze in your workforce. Employee engagement and satisfaction monitoring, improve workplace culture, analyze communication patterns to identify toxic behavior. Are you doing something about toxic behavior? Are you just allowing it to continue? That could lead to employee churn. Automation of routine tasks, it’s routine and it’s day in, day out. It’s the same thing, automated so you can concentrate on quality work that is more rewarding. Data-driven HR decisions, personalized employee experiences, especially in the modern world we currently live in. So these are just examples. There’s many more and it’ll continue to evolve in our modern workforce and for us to adapt to it, we need to embrace the change.

(13:01):

Now, strategic, we need to also be strategic with our approach. We cannot continue to live in the past. This is how it’s going to be. It used to work in the past. We need to strategize. Every employee is different. Every personality is, every industry is different, every executive is different, every leader is different. Every approach is different. You cannot have the same approach to one employee and another employee — they’re different. So strategic employee retention techniques. There’s so many strategy techniques I’d love to talk about but these are the main examples I’d like to discuss. Why is strategy important? Because for one, like I stated earlier, one size does not fit all. The same problem, like I stated, may have different solutions but what is the best or ideal solution? It can also help give you direction and motivation that can also help give you direction and motivation.

(14:00):

One, competitive compensation and benefits packages. So for this, let’s consider offering competitive salaries and comprehensive benefits such as health insurance. A lot of companies and industries are having this in place as they continue to grow the FTE count. Retirement plans. A lot of the newer generation, like the younger generations, they do not really understand. If they do not have the knowledge to know what these retirement plans are to invest in their future and we’re not training them on that, they’ll never know the importance of retirement plans and paid time off — it’s all about work and life balance. Of course we want that work and life balance. We want time for them to disconnect. We’re not robots. We sometimes need that time to spend with families, have those memories but at the same time come back knowing we can do more, give more value.

(15:02):

Two, career development and advancement opportunities, providing career paths for career growth. Professional development programs and training opportunities can definitely motivate employees to stay and advance within the organization because they’re developing, they’re growing. It’s not boring. They know they’re feeling included within the business. Number three, recognition and rewards program. Implementing employee recognition programs such as let’s say employee of the month awards or team member recognition can definitely make employees feel valued and appreciated for their contributions. Sometimes employees don’t really care. It’s okay, I do work, this is for me, but some employees do like that pat on the back, that appreciation, because they know what they’re actually executing is good work, right? Generations have changed and we have to accept that. Next, workplace wellness initiatives promoting employee health and well-being through wellness programs, putting that in place.

(16:18):

For example, some people really love to de-stress by going to the gym and it definitely does work. I know for one, I do that and it definitely de-stresses. Mental health resources and initiatives that help reduce stress and improve overall job satisfaction. I’m telling you, it’s one strategy that really does work. Knowing the company invests in your wellness, in your health, and in return they invest in you too. Regular feedback and communication. Communication is key. Providing constructive feedback, all right, not saying that, hey, you’re not doing your job well. You know what? You’re useless. No, no, not that constructive feedback. This is not right. This can be better. Let me show you how.

(17:10):

For example, performance reviews. Regularly do them. Some employees are not really that open to communication though they want to. They all have different personalities through a DISC assessment, for example. You can get that data as well. Some employees are really different. Some may not come to you directly and let you know their concerns. So do these performance reviews so they know they’re actually growing and open those channels of communication between employees and management so you can help them foster a sense of transparency and trust. Because if we have trust, we will definitely flourish in a company and the company will continue to grow. Trust your employees and trust your executives. Trust your leaders because it’s teamwork.

(17:59):

Next is employee engagement. Surveys. Surveys. That’s where we get our data analysis, right? To analyze. So conducting employee surveys to gather feedback. Definitely identify areas. It’ll help us identify areas of improvement and address concerns. That can demonstrate a commitment to listening to employees and enhancing the overall experience because they’re basically thinking like, oh, the companies are doing these surveys. They want to know how we feel. What can we do about it? It’s anonymous anyways, so we want to get that data because we can’t read minds. Next is stay interviews. Exit interviews and analysis, conducting exit interviews with departing employees to understand the reason for their departure and gather insights to improve retention strategies for current employees. So stay interviews are definitely very vital, for some even more than exit interviews. I use this as well because not every employee is able, like I stated earlier, to come up to you and let you know.

(19:07):

Compensation sometimes is a very sensitive topic, but use that data to be proactive and not reactive. Create that work and life connection. What I’m going to tell you is those with meaningful relationships at work are seven times more engaged, and I do know that from my own employees as well and the support they have. These people help your new team members build relationships by bringing that human aspect into work. Even though AI is now everywhere, bring that human aspect into work; it works wonders. Our suggestion, my suggestion, is to facilitate interest groups and showcase this in your onboarding process, that culture, so new team members can get involved and find people with similar hobbies and interests. Now, what I’m going to say is educate them. Provide them the tools to learn and feel engaged. This will definitely make them feel empowered because they know the company they work for invests in them; the company they work for is committed to their employees’ futures, not just their current productivity, their future.

(20:28):

There’s that light at the end of the tunnel. There’s that goal we can reach, right? Making our dreams reality. We all work toward that. They may not want it. You’re doing all of this, you’re investing time in all of this. They may not want it. Who knows? Who knows what the future may hold, some may not even care, but as employers and as professionals and as executives, we should know better and do what is right. Like the cliche goes, two wrongs do not make a right. Be leaders, not just managers. By implementing these strategic employee retention techniques in place, organizations and business owners and professionals like yourself can reduce turnover, increase employee satisfaction, definitely, and that loyalty. And ultimately I’m going to ensure that and assure you will improve performance and competitiveness in the marketplace.

(21:25):

Next, leveraging LMS for growth and development. LMS — learning management systems. This is now up and becoming really evolving. A lot of employees are now working remotely. How do we continue to train them? How do we continue to give them that knowledge but still have these team members provide quality work, know what they’re doing, and identify errors because they actually know to have that confidence. As you all know, with the advancement of technology, with the increasing number of employees wanting to work remotely, LMS gives us that capability to reach beyond. And then there will be no excuses when it comes to growth, both from the employee and business standpoints.

(22:17):

And there will be no excuses. Don’t forget, training doesn’t end after the first week or two. Consistency is key. That’s how things are retained in our memories. That’s how we learn. You must always be training or retraining, and we all have this in place, but you have to be consistent, right? And have confidence in your team. Remote employees, for example, may at times not feel included because they’re remote. We usually have a lot of events and an in-office here and there and remote employees tend to not feel included and it is normal. But at the same time, how do we reach out to them? How do we reach out to enhance their goals so they can achieve them? How do we give them that knowledge? Because the times are changing, business models may change.

(23:16):

We may put into place new LMS tools but how are we going to be transparent with the changes? How are we going to educate them on the new laws so they abide by the company’s policies and regulations? So remote employees may at times, like I stated, not feel included compared to employees in the office or in the workplace but if they have a learning like the LMS platform in place at their fingertips, it can surely make them feel included. I’m telling you, because it did for us all. And that will now contribute to the growth of your company and also to their personal growth as well. Now, this may sound a lot like a lot of work. Oh my gosh, I’m going to put all of this work, having to build it and all of that, but if you do not invest in your employees, how can you demand employees invest in you?

(24:14):

Now, learning management systems, I want to also introduce that we also at FLORES introduced a learning management system. We have built this learn and grow in place called Flora Solutions where employees can learn and grow, where technology learning knowledge is at their fingertips, where we can track and monitor and where we can customize, where we can include this in our analysis, in their performance reviews so they can continue to be set up for success. A lot of times employees who may leave the company complain about not being trained properly and maybe they may think they’re doing the right thing but they were never really educated or they didn’t have the knowledge. So is it really their fault or does it go both ways? Right? Offering a learning management system with numerous built-in courses we also create those pathways for managers, for employees, for executives. We’re not perfect. There’s always room for improvement. There’s always room for learning. And this keeps it exciting, keeps us on our toes, right? So one month their motivational factor can change. The next month, their motivating factor can change. It may be one month, it may be compensation driven. They need more money. One can be job security. The next year it can be personal growth, wanting to know more. How do you continue to keep this in play? How do you continue to analyze all this data?

(25:58):

Having that learning management tool in place, providing them that education is very important. Knowledge is very powerful. It’ll definitely lead you to growth and success. Now, compliance side, adapting to trends, legal and market changes. We cannot do away with the laws, the regulations, and the policies. We have them in place for a reason but times have changed. Embrace the change rather than huffing and puffing about it. The continuous evolution in technology. And of course our laws are not stopping anytime soon and we all know AI is taking over but how can we pivot and continue to educate our employees ourselves so they not only need to stay but want to stay. Not a need but a want. We need to continue to place the human in human resources, continue to place people in people operations but by doing so we need to learn how to listen.

(27:09):

We need to embrace education for employees so they can grow and in turn, businesses can grow. And I want to also touch base on a legal update in the landscape of California business regulations, navigating employment laws, and one being the workplace violence prevention plan. And I’m sure a lot of employers, a lot of HR professionals, have been hearing this. And the new requirement for employers, which is due by July 2024, I’m going to read, it’s the Senate bill 553 signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom, which requires nearly all employers in the state of California to prepare a workplace violence prevention plan, train their employees on how to identify and avoid workplace violence, and maintain a violent incident logged by July 1, 2024. Yes, this year, and we are in the process of customizing that plan. We are in the process of customizing that training to provide to employees. Every industry is different. How can you keep it engaging? One size does not fit all. You cannot create a training plan that is for a food and retail industry and then have the same training plan for construction or for healthcare. They’re not going to get engaged, they’re not going to learn anything. You just wasted your time.

(28:39):

It needs to be engaging. They need to learn and what it means and why is it a requirement? It’s because it has happened. We want to make sure we are consistent in training. We want to put a stop to it. We want to prevent any issues that may arise. And of course, this training needs to happen annually every year thereafter. And so with that said, how do you continue to do this? We’re concentrating on our business having to do this work, and then now we have to keep training this every year. It’s a lot. And that’s where LMS comes into picture, right? By having the LMS tool and having your trainings there, it’s at your fingertips who you can assign. And also at the same time, monitor and track; you can identify who’s motivated, who wants to learn, who does not want to learn.

(29:35):

All right? Now with that said, final takeaways. I also want to also provide you on average 44%, as you can see on the slide, of new hires’ skill sets need to be updated to fulfill their position. Consistency. It doesn’t mean when you train and then you stop there, you need to retrain again. And that’s why they say, oh, every year, every two years, anti-harassment training. Why? Because laws change. Things change, motivational factors change. It needs to be retained. Consistency is key. When your employees feel heard and valued, they’ll be more motivated because you’re listening. They’ll be more motivated to contribute to their best work, right? So again, listen and know these motivating factors, make them understand the whys, make them feel involved, get to know them so you know how to retain them. And as a result, reduce turnover. If you’re training them and it’s not working and then you do the same thing over again, what outcome are you going to get?

(30:50):

In conclusion, to end today’s webinar, we’ve explored powerful strategies to reduce turnover, retain the right employees. There is so much more to talk about, to be honest, and I can continue talking in here to really give you those strategical techniques. But every business is different. You know yourself better, you know your business better, and listen to your employees, get to know them and promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in your workplace. Embrace that change, right? We’ve also discussed the importance of effective training and learning management systems, especially in a multi-generational workforce that we currently live in and are increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence or AI. Remember, it’s not just about holding onto employees, it’s about creating environments where they can flourish, thrive, and be successful. And one thing I’m going to say is that aha moment lies in recognizing that these challenges are interconnected. Our workforce is our most valuable asset, and by creating an environment where all our employees thrive and feel valued and engaged, we can achieve remarkable results. So thank you again everyone for your participation. Back to you, Rosalie.

Rosalie (32:12):

Thank you so much, Mia. Again, I just want to thank you again everyone for your participation in today’s webinar on reducing turnover. We’ve covered a lot of ground and now it’s time to address your questions. Please feel free to type your questions into the QA box at the bottom if you have not already, and we’ll do our best to address as many as we can within the time we have. Remember, no question is too big or too small, so don’t hesitate to ask. Now, let’s kick off our Q&A session and keep the insightful discussions flowing. Okay, Mia, can you share a strategy you or FLORES has done to reduce turnover based on your experiences?

Mia (33:01):

Oh, certainly. Well, like I said earlier too, every industry is different. And personally for myself and FLORES, what I did is communicate first. And what I did, I listened. I gathered the data, I analyzed the data and what I came up with personally and what we’ve also put into place and what FLORES put into place is an employee feedback system. So what is an employee feedback system? Kind of like continuous feedback, which helps management understand the concerns and the needs of our employees in real time. So this allows for quicker and more appropriate responses. And the other thing we did, previously we used the term coaching sessions but now we call them career development plan coaching sessions. By calling it a career development plan, a personalized career development plan, we put this into place where we meet with employees every month and each employee receives a personalized career development plan.

(34:02):

They complete it. What are their short-term goals? What are their mid-term goals? What are their long-term goals? And I’m not talking about to-do tasks within their job description. This is personal growth and career growth. Where do they want to be within their job position as well so we can help them grow and in return also help us grow. So each of them receives this every month, they complete it and it may be the same each month. There’s not a lot of changes just like with motivational factors but it’s good to kind of continue that check-in every single time. Another thing we have also put into place is recognition and a rewards program. We kind of gamified it every year, the executive team and myself, we strategize, see what’s changed and how do we make it way more fun and engaging. So for the recognition and rewards program, we did a Level Up performance-based awards employee of the month for our specific departments.

(35:05):

We had Level Up cards and we actually came up with this hashtag Level Up. So it was definitely gamified. We realize we have a lot of competitive employees. They definitely really want to get that Level Up card and it’s amazing to see and they feel recognized. It’s also seeing that motivation and work aspect but making it fun too. And then next, what we have also put into place, and also because of the great resignation back in 2021, 2020, a flexible work arrangement. I mean me being old school at some point I like to be in the office. I don’t like to be working from home. It feels so disconnected, especially if you’re a people person or it’s difficult when you’re not actually socializing. But that’s the modern world we live in, right? Work needs to continue and how can we do that?

(35:59):

How can we strategize flexible work arrangements? So our company basically implemented that in place, including options to work remote and flexible hours and compressed work week times. Work ethic has definitely changed as you know, Rosalie, rather than huffing and puffing and living in the past, let us challenge ourselves to move forward and embrace this change and then kind of not be in that I’m old school, I want to be here in the office and employees should be here in the office so I know they’re working and whatnot. But trust in your employees, trust that they will execute good work because you are educating them, providing all those tools, those learning management systems, tracking it, monitoring it. Trust and then enhance what we did as well. Enhanced onboarding experience. We just recently went through a change in our platforms. Everything was done on paper for some companies.

(37:01):

And the same thing on our end as well. There was also room for a lot of human error but it’s always evolving. Technology is always changing. We want to enhance that onboarding and I’m not talking about just filling up a new hire paperwork, right? I’m talking about enhancing that onboarding with training, actually reserving their first week or first two weeks depending on the position to actually train them, understand about the culture, about the job, about the policies. Now because of that, now we’re setting them up to succeed rather than setting them up to fail because we’re putting that foundation for them. So just enhancing that onboarding experience so they feel valued and it’s like, oh, I really do want to work here. I really want to be here and I want to contribute to the company’s growth because I know because of doing that I will grow as well.

(37:53):

Next is training and development. As I was talking about earlier, we put the learning management system, the learn and grow, the floor solutions in place. We want to develop our employees. Not everyone, we’re not, like I stated earlier, we’re not perfect. There’s always room for growth. There’s always room for improvement. Laws keep changing, times keep changing. Everyone has different skill sets and we can learn from another person and with all that knowledge together, we definitely grow. But how can we put it on our fingertips? Reach out to employees who are remotely working as the LMS tool, training them as well, developing them, investing in them.

(38:38):

Leadership commitment is also one thing I would have to say is something personally in my experience I feel should be very valuable because I truly believe in leadership commitment. If as leaders we are not committed to the success of our employees and lead and pave the pathway for them to learn and grow, they will surely not flourish if we don’t create that pathway for them, if we’re not committed to them. It starts from us. It starts from us. Communication. Another thing is, personally, I would have to say, and this will be the last, I know I said a lot because we just had so much going into place. Last year was definitely one with a lot of changes and a lot of evolution. But good, being positive about it. But I would have to say definitely communication. And I’m not saying it’s just okay, you’re communicating and talking and whatever.

(39:37):

No, it’s easier said than done. Communication meaning is key to every success. I would have to say we cannot read minds. No one can read minds but if any of you do please share your secret. I think that will make all our lives easier if we can read minds, but we cannot; we can only base or only assume based on monitoring our analysis through LMS, through our HIS platform, through data, checking in with our employees and listening to them, having those career development plans, those performance reviews, and actually listening. Not just because we have to do it and this is part of the process but actually wanting to do it and listening to them, right? Get to know your employees. Yep. So basically, I guess that would be what FLORES and I have strategized to put into place over the past year.

Rosalie (40:38):

Thank you. Another question is, what are your thoughts on offering benefits in lieu of merit increases or lower merit increases supplemented by benefit additions? It’s a form of compensation without taxation to employers and employees.

Mia (40:57):

Yeah, so basically you’re talking about providing health insurances or other benefits rather than merits, is that right? 

Rosalie (41:22):

What are your thoughts on offering benefits in lieu of offering health, dental, etc.?

Mia (41:29):

Health, dental. Okay, got it. Well, benefits, yes, of course every industry is different. Like I mentioned, you need to know what your employees want and you gather this based on survey data. It can’t happen overnight. In my experience, having a health insurance in place is really beneficial. You read through a job ad and it states benefits, health insurance, definitely number one, retirement plans offering that, dental, especially in California, we want to make sure, but it really depends. It really depends on the employees you are hiring. Sometimes it’s not that important to them but I personally feel having benefits in place in a company definitely allows you to retain employees and merit increases. However, merit I feel is definitely very good because it is not saying you have to continue doing it every time they do a good job.

(42:42):

Here you go, merit, okay, you did a good job. Okay, here you go. Another merit. No, it’s not sustainable, it’s not going to allow the business to thrive. But analyzing it, did the employee really go above and beyond warranting a merit? Have a policy in place in regard to the eligibility and requirements that go under a merit; set those goals and foundations. But I would definitely have to say yes, the benefits, because that’s an investment you are putting into place. Knowing a company has health insurance, retirement plans, dental does definitely hold that foundation to retain employees.

Rosalie (43:29):

Thank you so much. I think that concludes our questions.

Mia (43:34):

All right. And then I think we discussed everything on the LMS and why it’s important and enhancing that training and development and advantage. So if in any case you do have more questions, I’m sure we’re definitely here to continue to help you and answer any questions that may help. And again, this is just part of it. There’s going to be so many more topics and there’s so many more strategic techniques we can discuss about and I’m definitely going to help you and I’m willing to help you get to that point. 

Rosalie (44:15):

If you are ready to pivot and if you found our insights on reducing turnover valuable, we invite you to take the next step of empowerment, growth, and delivery with FLORES,  an accounting, HR, and payroll business solutions firm. I want to thank all of you for your attendance today and we’ll be reaching out to you soon.

Mia (44:37):

Thank you everyone. Thank you for attending. Have a good day.