Getting a Handle on Employee Turnover

Published On: March 6th, 2026Categories: Accounting, Consulting, Small Business

If you’ve ever lost a key employee, you know the immediate and long-term hit to your bottom line. Here are some ideas to help reduce employee turnover and the challenges it brings:

Review employee compensation. Do your homework to ensure your company is offering competitive industry salaries and benefits for your area. Consider making pay adjustments to key employees that would be hard to replace. Also review benefit packages. Many of your competitors may be offering additional vacation, enhanced family leave and other benefits. A good way to look at this expense is to balance the additional cost against the cost of replacing one or two key employees.
Talk with employees about what keeps them satisfied. An IBM workplace study found that the priorities of employees across working generations align on major job-related issues, including fair treatment, growth opportunities, flexible work hours and their work making a positive impact. During performance reviews, ask your employees about their priorities. This will give you insight into what retention strategies are working well at your company, or tip you off on why employees may end up leaving. Anonymous surveys may also be an effective way to gauge the satisfaction of your employees.
Offer career paths to employees who want them. Chances are if employees feel stuck in their job roles they’ll go looking for opportunity elsewhere. Show the ambitious employees at your company that their desires for career development are heard by offering them more responsibility and trust in their roles. This could come in the form of additional assignments outside of their usual scope, plus more autonomy.
Cross-train employees in key functions. This not only offers employees new challenges and a chance to develop more skills, it also provides you with the comfort of knowing that key positions can be temporarily backfilled should someone leave unexpectedly.

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About the Author: Shelly Spata, CPA

Shelly Spata joined the firm in 1998. She now serves as the Managing Partner of the firm. "As a business owner myself, I understand the complexities and challenges business owners face, and I strive to add value by helping clients understand their financial statements, manage tax consequences, and clearly see the financial and tax ramifications — both positive and negative — of decisions they make," she explains. "Without good financial information, it’s like driving a car blind, but with good information, clients are able to maximize profits."