Although your business may be profitable, that doesn't mean you can ignore other underlying workplace issues that could be causing serious damage to your organization.

Just how much does it really cost to replace, train and onboard employees in your company?

Many managers shy away from this calculation or leave it to the last minute. However, it’s not as difficult as it may seem. Simply take the annual salary of a job for which you have excessive turnover, add 30 percent for benefits, and calculate 25 percent of the total. That is the absolute minimum cost incurred to the company every time that single position is turned over. If you really want a shocking number, multiply it by the amount of times that position has turned over and do this for every job where there is turnover.
Shocked? Don’t forget the other costs incurred with onboarding new employees and hiring (fee’s, travel, advertising, training.) Read our post on: What does employee turnover really cost.

If you are experiencing high staff turnover, or your new hires are not fitting well with your organization and its values, follow these 5 steps to ensure smart hiring processes and get the most out of your people.

1. Identify hiring problems – Discover what parts of your organization are having problems and why, you can do this by:
-Ask your HR and department heads for their opinions. 'Why are people quitting, why have they become problematic, why are they being fired?'
-Make sure each department and/or HR carries out exit interviews. Ask people who leave, why they are leaving and what you could have done to help them succeed. Do not be fooled by the typical ‘Pay me more money’ answer. Many employees are motivated without money.
-Ask your top performers and higher level positions what they like about their jobs and what you could improve on. Then, focus on what they like and replicate it throughout the organization.
-Evaluate the managers responsible for hiring. Ask them first and then yourself: ‘Do they need training, does their system work, do they take their jobs seriously?’

2. Recruit people who match specific positions
-First, you must be able to understand and outline a competency based job description. How can you expect people to fit jobs if you don’t know what you want and what is to be expected of them? Make sure to document all competencies required by all jobs in your company on the basis of technical, educational, experiential and industrial know-how.
-This information is not accessible from traditional job interviews or background checks. Assessments provide the tools necessary to analyze these attributes. Learn more about assessments.

3. Be innovative when you prospect for new candidates
-Offer employee bonus referrals for candidates hired.
-Look for companies that have announced cut-backs.
-Set up educational relationships – find universities, colleges or schools that support your industry through their curriculum and develop a relationship with them.
-Use assessments with current employees to outline potential promotions for higher positions.
Read: 10 Important Questions to Help Identify High Potential Leaders.

How do you ensure you have the right people in the right jobs? Read the remaining 2 tips on the original article on the Profiles International Employee Solutions Blog.