Our recent post on Next Gen’s mobile offices speaks directly to industries where there is a high turnover rate, as well as to those where agility is key. Industries that have high turnover rates already face high costs in time and money for recruiting, interviewing, hiring, and training workers — add the problem of workers settling into their workstations and leaving a mess behind, and it can feel like adding insult to injury.
Office furniture that easily accommodates turnover can be a solution.
Offices for individual workers, while maybe less common than in the past, can be a messy situation for high employee turnover industries. Nail holes in the walls, highly personal furniture arrangements, and extensive collections of papers or conference swag can mean an office is not ready for the next employee without lots of time and trouble.
On the other hand, office policies that keep workers from personalizing their work spaces can actually increase worker turnover, according to Sam Gosling, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Texas-Austin. One reason for high turnover is the feeling of being a commodity, and not a special person who is important to the company.
And yet there are fields that tend to have high turnover rates, no matter how pleasant the company makes its workplace. Industries with the highest turnover rates include services, entertainment, and retail, falling in at 35, 27, and 22 percent average annual turnover rates. Compare that with the all-industry average of 15 percent and it’s clear that these industries can stand to look towards implementing office setups that are ideal for quickly changing employees.
Adaptable office furniture with built in accessories mean workspaces can be easily fitted to a worker’s needs while ensuring that the accessories don’t leave when the employee does. Cubicles that can be personalized without structural change can be the solution — even in private offices.
You can plan ahead for turnover without making new hires feel expendable. That’s just one of the myriad aspects of office furniture planning EthoSource designers take into account when planning the perfect office furniture installation.