Ready for A Permanent Solution to Employee Turnover?

Many of our clients are curious about OpenElevator’s methodology and how we are able to continuously provide our partners with such amazing results. Though the exact methodology of our proprietary algorithm cannot be revealed, the information below offers a detailed overview of how our algorithm and methodology came to be.

Too often employers don’t get the outcome they need from assessments because they’re just too cumbersome. OpenElevator’s algorithm, based on decades on psychometric research, is optimized and designed to be efficient, minimally invasive and maximally insightful. You get unprecedented levels of transparency and predictability for successful, productive collaboration fast, and you don’t need a psychology degree to interpret the results.

Specifically, OpenElevator measures Interpersonal Alignment and Values Alignment. Interpersonal Alignment shows how well two people naturally work together. Values Alignment shows how well what the individual values matches what is offered by the company for long-term engagement.

Strong Interpersonal Alignment matters the most for successful collaboration. In fact, we all intuitively try to assess how well we will work with someone in our hiring and team building decisions. However this is filled with unwanted bias. From how it feels to shake hands with someone to the non-work-related history we have with someone (think: how often good friends start a business together). Unfortunately, the unconscious bias which makes us like people is not a reliable indication that we will work well together.

That’s where OpenElevator’s bias-free algorithm comes in. The algorithm is based on a robust model used in scientific and academic research across various applications. It accurately measures the alignment of individual team members with each person they work with or are going to work with. Now you can leverage this to confidently and consistently build high-performing teams based on data.

While strong Interpersonal Alignment is essential for successful collaboration, Values Alignment is necessary for long-term engagement. Let’s face it, we all make compromises. But when the gap between what is important to people and what they get from an organization is very big, they are unsatisfied, disengaged and looking to leave. OpenElevator helps smart companies know where and what the gaps are, so they can deliver the right incentives – and cut costly programs that don’t make a difference – to reduce the risk of unwanted leavers and increase engagement.

With more than 30 years of research, Gallup studies have shown that 85% of the global workforce is DISengaged from their employer. This costs the global economy a sum of $8.1 trillion, nearly 10% of GDP, in lost productivity each year. For a company of 1,000 employees with an average salary of $100,000, the cost is more than $12 million annually – dramatically impacting a company’s results.

On the other hand, people who are engaged at work are more involved and more enthusiastic. They are loyal and productive and focused on getting things done. And as far as bottom-line impact: companies with high engagement have 3x higher growth, 20% higher income, 20% higher profitability and 147% higher earnings per share versus their competition!

For enterprises struggling to “do more with less,” strong Interpersonal Alignment and Values Alignment is the key to decreasing friction, increasing productivity and increasing long-term engagement. With OpenElevator, maximizing team collaboration for the long-term no longer has to be undercut by sheer lack of transparency.

By combining our proprietary algorithm together with advanced software and complimentary consulting support every step of the way, OpenElevator helps clients tackle the most persistent factors contributing to conflict, underperformance, loss of productivity and high employee turnover.

It’s true! We have been able to consistently provide companies with a 78% average decrease in annual employee turnover. On average, a company that normally sees 500 people quitting per year will only lose about 110 per year after working with us and implementing our data-based recommendations.

Absolutely. For a meaningful sample, we suggest you try this with a minimum team size of 10 people.

While most businesses base their retention strategies on legacy, trends and guesswork, you don’t have to. To measurably improve employee retention, the key is to base your retention strategy on what your employees actually value. Focus on understanding what they value in terms of safety, contribution, growth and connection and skip perks that are a waste of money and don’t move the needle on retention.

Strategies that address what employees value, especially in terms of safety, contribution, growth and connection, are most effective in reducing employee turnover.

Companies with engaged employees have two times the retention rate as their competition. Simply, engaged employees stick around. Which means employers don’t have to keep throwing time and money into recruiting, rehiring and retraining.

The impact of company culture on an employee’s experience is overestimated. The fact is that the number one driver of employee retention and employee engagement is the relationship of an employee with the direct boss. Most people have experienced firsthand how a change in their direct boss impacted their feelings towards a company and ultimately their decision to stay or leave.

Employees do not stay in an organization just because they are enrolled in a mentorship program. Mentorship programs can only help reduce turnover when structured and delivered to meet the needs of the employees, in terms of safety, contribution, growth and connection. Most mentorship programs fail to know what an employee values and fail to understand if a mentor is in a position to support them. 

Instead of relying on guesswork and gut-feelings to see signs of disengagement, use bias-free, data-driven assessment tools to know who in your team is unhappy. There are tools which can help you not only know who is at risk of leaving, but also why and what you can do about it.

Feedback systems can improve employee retention when they are used to define and implement processes, focused on behavior and not on personality, that enhance smooth collaboration and productivity.

When we think of turnover costs, most of us immediately think of the direct costs associated with turnover, such as recruitment expenses, including job advertising, recruiter fees, and the time spent interviewing and onboarding new staff to replace the old.

However, in addition to direct costs, organizations also incur substantial indirect hidden costs. The most obvious of these is the time required for new hires to reach productivity. Less obvious are the project costs due to valuable product or process knowledge lost with departing experts, as well as reputation costs that arise from disruptions in customer service when client-facing employees change frequently. It can cause clients to worry about the impact these constant changes might have on them and drive them to mitigate their risk exposure by taking their business elsewhere.

A reasonable onboarding process is smart to have, however it is not a driver of long-term retention. What’s the last time you or anyone you know left a company because you were unhappy with their onboarding process? 

The fact is, the number one reason people leave an organization is their dissatisfaction with their relationship with their direct manager. If you get this relationship right, you can measurably increase long-term retention.

Anything you offer your employees only benefits your organization if your employees find it of value. If flexible work arrangements is something that your employees value, then this is something you want to consider offering.

Team-building activities are a waste of time and money. Instead of artificial off-sites exercises, when people collaborate to deliver quality work, this drives job satisfaction, fuels a sense of contribution and increases engagement.

The key factor that makes for a high-performing team is trust. When we work with people who we can count on to deliver at a high level, inline with our standards, time and time again, this trust fuels performance.

It’s obvious that effective (versus ineffective) communication impacts team dynamics positively. The real issue is that what people find “effective” is not universal. One person’s “straightforward” can be another person’s “abrasive.” When people’s communication style resonates with each other, there is effective communication that positively impacts team dynamics.

Leaders can influence engagement and retention by providing managers tools that deliver data to improve hiring success and retention strategies. Instead of relying on guesswork and gut-feelings, data specifically on how well employees are likely to collaborate and what they value, can powerfully inform and improve hiring and retention.

The key is to base your retention strategy on what your employees actually value. Understanding what they value in terms of safety, contribution, growth and connection will help you develop a winning retention and engagement strategy and save money on initiates that don’t make a difference.

Smooth collaboration is always a good thing. However, the number one driver of retention is the manager-employee relationship. Focus on getting that right.

Conflict resolution strategies can help retain employees in the short-term. In the long-term, if there is not authentic trust and ease of collaboration, employees who can leave, will leave.

Tools that assess who naturally works together, help ensure ease of communication and smooth collaboration for long-term success.

Employee recognition can powerfully deliver a sense of safety, contribution, connection and growth. These are the drivers of retention and engagement.

Interpersonal fit (how well people work together) has little to do with proximity, therefore remote work, especially considering the many platforms available for collaboration (zoom, slack, teams, etc.) does not impact team cohesion, especially for mid to senior level staff. 

For more junior positions, or new hires unfamiliar with the processes, products, industry, sitting in close proximity to more seasoned employees can be a big advantage with more spontaneous opportunities to learn from colleagues. This can not only speed up getting up to speed, but also increase team cohesion.

Regarding retention, the number one reason people quit is they are dissatisfied with their relationship with their direct manager, followed by wanting a sense of growth, contribution and job safety. Offering remote work to increase retention only makes sense if your specific employees value this flexibility.

Growth is a key driver of retention, therefore for employees selected to participate in leadership development programs, this can signal growth prospects. This can certainly reduce turnover. In the long-term, if growth opportunities don’t materialize, even employees enrolled in leadership development programs will eventually feel frustrated and leave.

Schedule recurring manager-employee one-on-one meetings, with clear outline for discussing past and upcoming deliverables, are the best for managing performance. Not just a box checking exercise, but when conducting effectively, these meetings can be the best opportunity to give feedback and reinforce positive behavior.

Lack of growth is the number two reason people quit, followed by dissatisfaction with the  relationship with the manager. Succession planning can be instrumental in increasing retention, giving individuals a roadmap of their growth prospects in the years or months to come.

Safety and certainly are key drivers of employee engagement and retention. Transparency in communication is important for retention, because the lack of it creates a sense of uncertainty. And, in the worst case, the lack of transparency, can erode trust. Once employees lose trust in their leaders, those who can leave will do so as soon as possible.

Employee wellness programs are great additional perks. They are not drivers of retention and engagement. The key drivers of retention and engagement are the need for safety, growth, contribution and connection.

Work-life balance is a high priority for many employees. Organizations that understand which employees value this are more likely to deliver this. Delivering what your employees value is exactly the key to long-term retention.

As we all agree, applied knowledge is power. 

Data-driven insights can help employers know (versus guess) who is at risk of leaving, why, and what to do to keep them from leaving. And, data-driven insights can help employers know what their employees actually value to confidently develop successful retention programs. In addition to what to offer, insights can also help employers know which incentives are a waste of money.

Flexible work arrangement can help reduce turnover rates if that is valued by your employees. If they do not value this, then offering it will not improve retention rates.

The top reasons employees quit are dissatisfaction with their relationship with their manager, followed by a lack of growth prospects, to lack of meaningful work and lack of safety and certainty. The first step towards ensuring retention is to understand which of these your team members prioritize most. Followed by evaluating what your organization can reasonably deliver – it’s impossible for any organization to deliver everything to everyone. Putting what your team values and what you can reasonably deliver is the best way to develop a successful retention strategy.