There are a number of reasons why employees might be leaving the business. If the employees who left did not leave on bad terms, perhaps you could approach them and ask them to honestly give you feedback on why they left.
Because they no longer work for you, they should feel safe telling you their reasons, but you should still promise them this is only to improve the business, and you will not react negatively to their comments – and then stick to that statement.
Ex-employees can be a valuable research tool if you conduct your exit interviews well.
Market-related salaries
While salaries are important, they are not the be-all and end-all of satisfied employees. Make sure you are correct in your assertion that you are paying the industry norm, and then evaluate what additional benefits you can offer your employees.
Some employees, particularly the more skilled and talented, might leave not for a bigger salary, but a bigger challenge. Is there growth potential within your business for ambitious employees? Are your employees aware of this potential and how they can realise their own goals?
Make it personal
Do you care about your employees and their private lives? Today’s workforce expects a work/life balance, and a degree of flexibility. Gone are the days when home life was left at the office door.
Choosing the right staff
You might also be losing employees because you aren’t hiring the right people in the first place. This is a mistake that business owners often make as their businesses hit their first proper growth phase, taking the company from a one-man business to a team.
Do your values align? If you hire someone who is looking for a job and willing to say what you want to hear to get it, but doesn’t actually hold the same value system that your business stands for, you will both be unhappy, and sooner or later the employee will leave.
You also shouldn’t hire employees because you have similar personalities or you get along well. Hire based on skill and choose people who complement your own skills set – not mirror it. You are growing a team to plug the gaps and fill the roles that you cannot manage yourself, so choose the best people for the job – not the nicest.