High turnover rates can hurt any company. Some studies estimate that organizations pay an average of 6-9 months’ salary to replace every employee that quits. In other words, if a business loses an employee that earns $80,000 per year, it would cost them between $40,000 and $60,000 because of lost productivity, hiring, training, and onboarding.

The correlation between communication and turnover

As you work with your clients to reach their communication goals, make a note of whether turnover is a concern for them. While employees are certainly motivated by pay rates and benefits, they also crave clear communication—plus it boosts morale and engagement.

Here’s what you need to know about the correlation between communication and turnover to better support your clients.

A toxic work culture leads to high turnover rates

The first thing to discuss with your clients is why employees quit. In a study by The Muse, 64 percent of women and 52 percent of men say they evaluate the company culture when considering whether an employer is a good fit.

Plus, 34 percent of workers cite a toxic work culture as one of the main reasons they decided to look for another job. This was the most prominent reason, beating out changing remote work policies and salary freezes.

A toxic culture can send employees running, and the root of that toxic culture is often poor communication. Here are just a few signs that a company has poor communication that creates an unhealthy workplace:

• Supervisors fail to clearly communicate their expectations.
• They also don’t listen to information provided by employees.
• Teams withhold information as power.
• Departments and friend groups only communicate with their cliques.
• Gossip is rampant around the office.

A toxic office may not have all of these communication breakdowns, but these are common in many spaces.

Ask the client: Are you struggling to remove department silos or get managers to communicate better? Explain how communication can fix this.

Managers need to listen to employees

Most people consider communication to be a two-way street where both parties can share their opinions and ideas. However, the reality is that everybody engaging in professional communication needs to practice active listening first before trying to make themselves heard.

According to a study from The Workforce Institute, 86 percent of employees don’t feel like they are heard fairly while 63 percent feel like their voice has been ignored by their managers. Yet, the study also found that companies are more likely to perform well when employees feel heard and are engaged.

Ask the client: How do you receive and give feedback from employees? Do you do this at all? Explain how their communication channels may need to shift to improve this.

Overcommunication isn’t effective communication

Companies often overwork it whenever they face communication challenges. They schedule more meetings and check-ins, send more emails (and follow-up emails), and create more policies. However, this is a clear example of working harder, not smarter.

The average worker spends 8.8 hours per week reading and writing emails. They also spend an average of 7.5 hours per week in meetings. This means that two whole days (40 percent of the workweek) is for keeping up with emails and meetings. What’s even worse, this doesn’t include online chats, informal discussions in the breakroom, and quick calls with coworkers to clarify project expectations.

Therefore, it really is okay to recommend paring down meetings and reducing email threads to your clients.

Ask the client: What is your daily and weekly communication like and how do you facilitate it? Remind them how they can actually reduce their communication efforts to be more efficient without overloading team members day-to-day.

Communication improves morale

The cost to improve communication within an organization is so low and yet the financial benefits can be immediate!

Use this short guide to help your clients understand the importance of clear communication in relation to employee turnover. You might save them more in the long run than you realize. An improved communication will reflect in their bottom line and ultimately in yours as well.