Empowering HR With AI: Navigating Employee Attrition For Retention Success

3 ways AI can augment HR policies

Employee attrition happens when employees leave the workforce for any reason and cannot be immediately replaced. Personal reasons like moving to a different city or retirement are just a few reasons people quit their jobs. Leaders should have the foresight to recognize these triggers and use the available tools to mitigate attrition risks and improve employee retention.

What Causes Employee Attrition?

Common factors that contribute to employee attrition include:
 

• Poor management: Employee turnover can directly result from leaders being unwilling to hear other people's opinions regarding vital business decisions. Resignations also happen when workers don't feel appreciated at the workplace.
• Toxic work environment: Employees cite unhealthy work environments as their top reasons for quitting. According to an MIT analysis, some elements contributing to this attrition predictor are failure to promote diversity, equality and inclusion, unethical behavior and workers feeling disrespected at work.
• Higher wages elsewhere: When companies fail to become competitive in compensation, it's easier for workers to turn to companies that offer better-paying jobs.
• Lack of career opportunities: People feel disengaged at their jobs when they can no longer grow in the company. Instead of staying to wait for raises or promotions, they ultimately decide to leave.

Why Should Businesses Reduce Attrition?

The answer is more straightforward than what many people think. Reducing attrition means a company can retain its best employees and maximize its growth potential. When good employees leave, the company suffers immediate drops in productivity.

The consequences of employee attrition can quickly snowball into a more significant and much more complex problem. Employee morale will suffer as people wonder why the best employee decided to leave. They reassess their place in the company and might be tempted to consider leaving as well.

The company must also find someone to fill in the vacant position. Hiring new employees costs time and money, especially regarding training, seminars and company integration. During the hiring process, challenges might also arise, like a need for more suitable candidates or higher salary demands.

To sum it up, employee attrition is bad for employees and employers. Companies should keep their top performers happy by introducing attractive compensation and other benefits.

How Can AI Help to Predict and Reduce Attrition?

Machine learning can help companies redirect retention efforts where it matters. Using algorithms and data, companies can use machine learning for employee attrition analysis and develop the right retention strategy. Here are three ways AI can augment HR policies for employee retention.

1. Chatbots for Checking Employee Pulse

It's easy for emotions to get bottled up when workers feel they can't turn to anyone to air their grievances and sentiments. Interactive chatbots can be used to check the pulse of employees at the workplace.

This approach lets companies gather important information about people, like what they do during work hours, how long they go to meetings and record when they log in to their work systems. Employers can use this data to determine whether people are headed for burnout and apply necessary measures to avoid it.

2. Attrition Models for Calculating Risk

Attrition models using artificial intelligence are instrumental in helping companies understand which employees are at a higher risk of attrition, which conditions could explain the risk and what can be done to avoid it.

Using variables like historical data, current salary, age, and so on, HR can recognize patterns and introduce solutions to remedy the problem. This approach takes training and development to function correctly, so having a dedicated team for this task may be the next logical step for companies.

3. Mood Indicators for the Workforce

Knowing how workers think and feel about their jobs is a great way to understand them and their needs. Business leaders understand that a happy workforce is a productive workforce. Employers can use AI software to gauge their employees' moods and offer additional support when the indicators show a dip.

This AI-powered solution is excellent for maintaining a positive working environment for employees. It's also a nifty way to recognize top workers and reward them for their high performance. Motivating employees and making them feel essential to the business's success is a hallmark of good management.

Fending Off the Great Resignation

It's vital for any company to recognize and understand the reasons why people leave the workforce. While people are quitting jobs at record rates, companies must be proactive in finding ways to alleviate the source of the problem before it truly gets out of hand.

Overlooking the signs of quiet quitting can be detrimental to HR retention efforts and the company's overall growth. Like many tools before, AI can be leveraged to give companies insight into factors usually withheld by employees who are a flight risk.

Zachary Amos is a tech writer with a special interest in HR technology, automation, and cybersecurity.