enmploy turn over

Employee turnover measures the rate at which employees leave their employer, usually over a one year time period. The statistics indicated that Harrods needed to take action to improve employee engagement and reduce its employee turnover. A high employee turnover rate has significant cost and performance implications to a business. These include the costs of recruitment, the loss of expertise and the increased need for training new employees. Following this investigation, Harrods carried out its first comprehensive employee survey to find out what they thought about working at Harrods. The employee survey has now become an integral aspect of Harrods’ Human Resource Management programme. The survey results were used to create strategic plans for change focused on improving employee engagement and trust. The four main elements were: • Changing organisational structure. Senior managers felt that the organisation was too hierarchical i.e. had too many layers. The new structure is flatter with employees taking on more responsibilities. This enables job enrichment, providing opportunities for an employee to take on further responsibilities to enhance their job satisfaction. • Changing leadership. Creating an environment where employees are encouraged to make more decisions themselves. Senior managers create the business vision but ground level employees are delegated more leadership responsibilities, for example, in dealing with customers. The model employed is one of transformational leadership where the vision is built at the top but everyone engages with the vision through personal leadership. • Improved communications. Better communications inform all employees about the strategies of the company. These outline the aims and direction of the business. They also inform employees about operational (day-to-day) plans which directly affect their work. A radical improvement was to encourage employees to inform management of their views. • Living the brand values. Making sure that everyone understands and models the brand values. Communications and cultural change The changes mentioned before have resulted in Harrods developing a people-focussed culture in order to better engage with its employees. The culture of an organisation is very powerful and has been described as its DNA. It has also been summarised as ‘the way we do things around here’ and is created through shared values, attitudes, beliefs and norms. One of the reasons why Harrods is so successful today is that it gives its employees a voice for change. All employees are encouraged to give feedback on every aspect of how Harrods operates. The opportunities for managers and employees to be engaged in sharing their views and ideas is summarised in the table below: Engagement method Description Internal employee magazine ‘Your Harrods’ - a popular and creative magazine for employees with a new starter list, interviews with key people, personal snapshots, charity features, an Agony Aunt column and interesting competitions. Morning briefing Informing shop floor teams about what is going on that day and the latest sales statistics. Intranet Enables sharing of information with employees. Employees are able to select which aspects they focus on (rather than having information pushed on them). Quarterly employee forum A group made up of employee volunteers. Enables employees to present issues and contribute to company strategy. Other forms of employee ‘Bright Ideas’ scheme which voice encourages employees to share innovative ideas to further improve Harrods.