Employee turnover is an inevitable reality in any facilities organization. Whether driven by personal decisions, better opportunities elsewhere, or internal dissatisfaction, the departure of key employees can significantly disrupt operations, morale, and even customer relationships. While employee turnover is a given, facilities organizations can manage the associated risks by proactively implementing strategies that reduce turnover and mitigate its impact.
Why Are Employees Leaving?
Before addressing the risk of employee departure, it is essential to understand the reasons why they are leaving. Some common reasons employees leave include:
Career Advancement: Employees often seek opportunities that offer better growth prospects—whether in terms of position, salary, or skill development. Most facilities management organizations are structured to offer very few opportunities for advancement, so employees are faced with the difficult decision of leaving to advance their careers.
Work Environment: A toxic or unsupportive work environment can push employees to seek better conditions elsewhere.
Work-Life Balance: Burnout or the inability to balance professional and personal life can lead to resignation.
Job Satisfaction: Lack of engagement, recognition, or fulfillment in their role can cause employees to seek more satisfying work.
Personal Reasons: Sometimes, employees leave due to personal reasons such as relocation, family commitments, or health issues.
Understanding these causes can help facilities organizations develop targeted strategies to reduce turnover and manage its impact. It is important to have a standard exit survey/interview process. The data/information collected in exit interviews should be shared with supervisors, managers, and directors so they can work together to address employee turnover.
How Can We Build a Positive Work Environment?
A supportive and positive work environment is critical in retaining employees. Facilities organizations can achieve this by:
Encouraging Open Communication: Regular feedback sessions and open-door policies allow employees to voice their concerns and feel heard. Conducting these feedback sessions monthly allows leaders to gather data/information early so adjustments can be made before an employee decides to leave. It is important to consider the current cultural climate within your facilities organization. If there is a lack of trust people will be hesitant to speak up in groups so be sure you offer one-on-one opportunities as well.
Promoting Work-Life Balance: Flexible working hours, remote work options where possible, and adequate leave policies can help employees maintain a healthy work-life balance. Because not all positions in a facilities organization can work remotely, it is important to develop ways to increase the flexibility of employees who must be on campus to perform their job duties.
Recognizing and Rewarding Effort: Regular recognition of employees’ efforts through awards—or even simple acknowledgments—can boost morale and job satisfaction. Monetary bonuses are usually not possible in higher education, so you must get creative.
Are You Investing Enough in Employee Development?
Employees are likelier to stay with a facilities organization that invests in their growth. Providing opportunities for professional development not only enhances their skills but also increases their loyalty. Strategies include:
Training and Development Programs: Offering workshops, courses, and certifications can help employees grow. APPA has educational offerings for all levels that can be brought to campus, offered online, or attended twice annually at APPA U. Many universities offer employee tuition waivers. Assisting employees with navigating that benefit and offering recommendations in degree programs that would help them advance their career may increase the use of that benefit.
Career Path Planning and Development: Helping employees map out a clear career path within the organization can give them a reason to stay and work toward long-term goals. It is important to be honest with employees when developing this plan. Often, an employee is ready to advance, but there is no position for them to advance into. Making a false promise of advancement will likely lead to an employee’s departure.
Mentorship Opportunities: Pairing employees with mentors can provide guidance, foster connections, and enhance job satisfaction. This is also a great way to allow employees to better understand other roles within the facilities organization.
How Can You Strengthen Employee Engagement?
Engaged employees are less likely to leave, plain and simple. To boost engagement:
Foster a Strong Organizational Culture: Create a sense of belonging by aligning employees with the facilities organization’s values, mission, and goals. Ensure that each employee knows the importance of their role in executing the university’s mission. Think of it like this: as a leader, it is your job to create a vision or big picture for your employees, but that is not enough. You must be able to show each employee what pixel they represent and be sure they understand that the absence of a single pixel blurs the big picture.
Empower Employees: Giving employees autonomy in their roles and involving them in decision-making processes can increase their commitment to the organization.
Conduct Regular Engagement Surveys: These surveys can help gauge employee satisfaction and identify areas for improvement. It is important to use the same survey year after year to see changes. It is also important to share the results with all employees.
Are You Prepared for Turnover?
Despite best efforts, some turnover is inevitable. Facilities organizations should have plans in place to mitigate the impact of key employees leaving:
Succession Planning: Identify potential internal candidates who can step into key roles when needed. Cross-training employees will help ensure that critical tasks can be covered during transitions. As stated above, it is important to develop employees so they are ready to step into new positions, but you cannot promise them the position.
Knowledge Management: Implementing systems to document processes, knowledge, and best practices ensures that vital information is not lost when an employee departs. Key processes and procedures should be identified, stored in an accessible location, and physically and digitally available. Each process and procedure should have a designated owner responsible for updating it.
Exit Interviews: Conducting thorough interviews can provide insights into why employees leave and help refine retention strategies. To make this practice worthwhile a standard procedure must be developed, and the data/information gathered must be shared and used to inform organizational decisions.
Is Risk Management Work the Effort?
Managing the risk of employees leaving is not about preventing turnover entirely but minimizing its negative impact and maintaining organizational stability. By creating a positive work environment, investing in employee development, strengthening engagement, and planning for turnover, facilities organizations can build a resilient workforce. These strategies reduce the likelihood of employee departures and ensure that when they do occur, the facilities organization can continue to thrive. Implementing these strategies requires ongoing effort, but the payoff—improved retention, enhanced employee engagement and satisfaction, and continuity of service levels—makes it a worthwhile investment.
Lindsay Wagner, PhD, is the owner of The Knowledge Collaborative in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. She can be reached at [email protected]. If you would like to contribute to this column, please contact Lindsay directly.
Facility Asset Management
Covers the issues and challenges surrounding the management of a facilities department, including solutions for benchmarking performance measures, database and reporting systems, and professional and educational trends in facilities management. To contribute, contact Lindsay Wagner, field editor of this column.
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