Karolis Blaževičius, Executive Partner at „Indigroup“, says that what candidates want to know about their future workplace is clearly seen in everyday recruitment practice.
„We receive daily questions from candidates about employee turnover issues at certain employers. Candidates are not inclined to delve into details and they see the main facts. Therefore, high turnover is a fairly critical red flag and, in my opinion, it is one of the three most important factors when comparing different employers and choosing the best one,“ says K. Blaževičius.
The decision to leave is often made much earlier
According to K. Blaževičius, increased candidate activity after summer repeats every year. However, this does not mean that the desire to change jobs arises with September – often at that time they simply start to implement what was planned much earlier.
„Employees have already planned to make career changes at the beginning of the year or in spring, but not wanting to waste summer holidays on job searching or experience stress participating in recruitment, they postpone these actions to the autumn season. So these are not plans to change jobs arising in autumn – these are simply accumulated postponed plans from earlier,“ says K. Blaževičius.
As the more active job search season approaches, the latest employee turnover rankings of Lithuanian companies have been published, showing which companies have the lowest employee turnover. Among the companies standing out with the lowest employee turnover in their sector is the game developer „Nordcurrent“.
The company’s marketing manager Ada Mockutė-Jaime says that such a rate is especially significant in the gaming industry due to competition for experienced specialists, which has long since not been limited to the Lithuanian labor market alone.
„In the gaming industry, people have many choices – their skills are in demand, and job opportunities have long since not been limited to one country. Therefore, it is important for us not only to attract strong specialists but also to create an environment where they would want to continue their careers. Low employee turnover in this case is a very concrete sign for us that people see reasons to stay,“ says A. Mockutė-Jaime.
According to her, it would not be possible to explain such a result with one specific measure. The employee’s decision to stay consists of things they encounter every day.
„You can have a long list of additional benefits, but a person does not come to work every day because of them. Especially in the creative field, it is important to feel trusted, that your ideas are heard, and that after a year or two you still have room to grow. Game development is a very team-oriented job, so the people you work with also matter a lot. I think when all these things come together, a person naturally has more reasons to see their future in the same company,“ she says.
A. Mockutė-Jaime states that the ability to see one’s future in the company is one of the most important things when talking about employees who stay longer. According to her, this means not only the opportunity to climb the ranks but also to take on new responsibilities.
„A person does not necessarily need a new job title every year to feel they are moving forward. Growth can mean greater responsibility, the opportunity to contribute to a new project, try another role, or have more influence on decisions. It is important for us that people still see new challenges for themselves here even after several years,“ says A. Mockutė-Jaime.
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What really motivates staying?
Deimantė Astrauskė, head of the „Alliance for Recruitment“ division, says that when evaluating companies with lower employee turnover, one of the most important differences is seen precisely in the employee’s daily life.
„How the manager communicates with the employee, how much autonomy they have, whether they understand what is expected of them, whether they see meaning in their work, and whether they have the opportunity to grow – these are the most important aspects. In organizations with lower turnover, we often see more consistency: clearer expectations, stronger manager connections with teams, more attention to employee experience, and greater trust,“ says D. Astrauskė.
According to the interviewee, what employees expect from their careers is also changing.
„Growth is especially relevant for younger specialists who want to see where their career can move after a year or two. The aspect of meaning and what change or impact I can make in society is also very important. Therefore, today an employer cannot just offer a good salary. They need to offer a good reason to stay,“ says D. Astrauskė.
However, she says it is important to evaluate the employee turnover rate in the context of the specific sector.
„Where an employee has quite specific competencies and there are not many jobs with a similar profile, turnover can naturally be lower. Therefore, comparing companies from different sectors solely by turnover percentage would not be very fair. It makes much more sense to compare a company with organizations from a similar sector and with a similar employee profile,“ explains D. Astrauskė.
A higher salary can be a delayed solution
One of the employers’ mistakes, according to K. Blaževičius, is to take employee motivation seriously only when the employee already announces their intention to leave. In such a case, a higher salary offer may change the decision but does not necessarily solve the reasons why the person started looking for another job in the first place.
„Sometimes employers overdo it trying to keep an employee. If an employee has shown initiative to leave the company several times a year but was retained, for example, by a higher salary, that is already a sign that motivation is being raised in not quite the right ways,“ says K. Blaževičius.
He says it is much more important to ensure that a person sees how their salary and career can grow in the company before such a decision.
„I think it is not so much a high salary as a well-thought-out policy of salary growth and career prospects that leads to higher employee loyalty. There are also benefits that employees quickly get used to, but all of them are practically worthless if the employer cannot create and develop a favorable work culture, trust-based relationships, and great attention to improving employees’ daily lives,“ emphasizes K. Blaževičius.
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