A Simple Way to Cut Your Attrition Rate by 5%

There are a hundred reasons why store associates and hourly employees suddenly quit their jobs. But there are a few common threads. Lack of control over their schedule. Poor communication about their schedule. A terrible onboarding experience that foreshadows what life might be like working with the company.

The Cost of High Attrition Rates and What You Can Do

The ramifications of high attrition rates are also varied but always expensive. According to a recent study by Forrester Research, the average cost of replacing an employee is 15% of the employee’s annual salary. That includes actual expenses, such as excess overtime due to missed shifts and higher costs for recruiting and training, but it doesn’t include perception costs, such as damage to the company’s reputation as a great place to work.

There’s something you can do to quickly transform attrition into retention. The Forrester study shows that by leveraging the Legion WFM platform, the composite retail enterprise can cut its attrition rate by 5%, saving $1.684 million per year and achieving a three-year net present value (NPV) of $3,561,371. (Based on customer interviews and composite organization of 10,000 employees moving from a legacy WFM system over three years.)

How Legion WFM Can Help

Legion WFM is uniquely effective at improving retention rates because it provides a mobile app that dramatically enhances the employee’s experience. It gives them access to their schedules and enables them to share their work preferences, accept shift offers, swap shifts, and communicate easily with their managers and co-workers. Here’s why this easy-to-use mobile app translates to lower attrition rates:

• It gives employees more control over their schedules. At many retail organizations, managers set the schedules and send them out periodically. Sometimes workers have no say in when they’re scheduled. Or they have to wait until the last minute to see the schedule. Or they have to physically come into the store to see the schedule. These practices promote frustration and make workers feel powerless.
  With the mobile app, employees have access to their schedules at their fingertips. And they can quickly make changes, swapping times and shifts with other employees – so they can live their lives the way they want, without disrupting store operations. According to the Forrester report, that translates to happier employees, more productive managers, and 5% lower attrition rates.
• It creates a communication network. Many retailers have no direct communication channel between corporate and hourly employees. With Legion, there’s a fast, easy way for managers to converse with employees about anything from an unexpected store closure to an all-employee get-together.
• It enables everyone to earn more money. Most stores experience missed shifts and unexpected gaps in coverage frequently. Most employees would welcome an opportunity to fill in occasionally when problems occur. The mobile app accommodates both agendas. With the app, organizations reported a 20% reduction in missed shifts thanks to better visibility into shift availability, according to the Forrester report. As a result, everyone makes more money while job satisfaction rates increase.
• It generates additional unquantified benefits. The mobile app improves employee engagement with its intuitive interface and easy-to-use features. It takes only a few minutes to learn, which improves the speed and quality of the onboarding experience. It frees up time for managers that they reinvest in higher-value activities. And it serves as a recruitment asset because it creates happier employees who feel empowered and respected.

Read the Report, and Turn Attrition into Retention

“Attrition rate” is such a cold, corporate term. With the Legion platform, you can warm up your company’s reputation as a place to work and generate higher job satisfaction and loyalty. Read the complete Forrester TEI study for details about the results retail organizations are achieving with Legion, including:

• ROI of 1,345%, with a Total NPV of $13.39 million* over three years for the composite enterprise described in the study
• $6.1 million in savings* (46% of total savings) over three years due to more accurate demand forecasts
• 10% reduction in overtime pay due to automated handling of compliance violations in schedule creation and execution

*Based on customer interviews and composite organization of 10,000 employees moving from a legacy WFM system over three years.

If you have any questions about how your business can benefit from using Legion WFM, please request a demo. We’d love to show you.