Companies spend thousands upon thousands of dollars on training new employees with no guarantee those employees will stick with the job. High employee turnover has a significant impact on business operations and carries significant costs. While the search for how to better retain employees remains a constant in the corporate world, some tools can help mitigate some of the costs associated with turnover. Specifically, a hosted PBX can ease transitions and reduce costs by increasing productivity and allow for greater functionality and scalability.
What is a hosted PBX?
A private branch exchange, or PBX, is a telephonic switching system that serves private organizations. PBX’s allow for multiple stations to communicate with one another within an organization, as well as route calls into the system to the appropriate party. Hosted PBX systems reduce costs by managing the PBX system from a single location. This means that a hosted PBX provider hosts (or maintains) the PBX system for you rather than having to install and manage a wholly separate system. Hosted PBX systems can be integrated with existing phone systems, or can replace them altogether. More interestingly, they offer a competitive advantage over traditional automated PBX systems because they can be used with any device that has access to the internet, including cell phones, tablets, laptops, and desktop computers. Incoming calls into an organization’s PBX system are managed over the cloud by the provider’s server and assigned IP addresses to reach the correct destination.
The Cost of Employee Turnover
A recent Huffington Post article on the cost of employee turnover explained the following:
“If you are a 150 person company with 11% annual turnover, and you spend $25k on per person on hiring, $10k on each of turnover and development, and lose $50k of productivity opportunity cost on average when refilling a role, then your annual cost of turnover would be about $1.57 million. Reducing this by just 20%, for example, would immediately yield over $300k in value. And that says nothing of an emotional headache and cultural drain felt from losing great people. You can use this spreadsheet to plug in your own numbers to get a sense of what the costs look like for you.”
Reduce turnover by modernizing your communications
The modern workplace is changing rapidly, and technology is at the forefront of the transformation. Employees and employers need to be aware of and to embrace these changes in the workplace, so they move with the times. Engaging with and retaining talented workers is vital, as the job market is more flexible than ever before and highly skilled staff come at a premium. Job satisfaction is crucial, with choice becoming a vital issue as the digital world enables more people to work differently and in diverse ways. Here are five ways to help keep employees engaged and to improve retention utilizing communications technology.
Technology is one of the fastest-moving industry sectors, and staff needs up-to-date equipment to operate effectively in today’s environment. The days of a notepad and phone are over, as staff requires modern technology to do their job in most sectors. Modernizing legacy systems, such as PBX systems, means employees can connect more effectively, which boosts productivity and avoids employee frustration. Workers need to have confidence in the IT they use as well, so investing in reliable and modern computers, systems, and mobile technology will support workers to do their job effectively and keep staff engaged. Streamlining technology so that everything is on one screen is known to improve productivity in the workplace and will keep employees motivated.
Reduce turnover by enabling better collaboration
One of the wonders of the internet age is the ability to communicate rapidly — but only if the right system is in place. Shared records in healthcare, virtual meetings, and video chat are all possible and save travel time to increase productivity and avoid duplication. Using video networking and webinars enable staff to be educated without traveling long distances and provide a creative solution to meetings involving a large number of people. A hosted PBX phone system is another way of holding a meeting without traveling and enabling people to use the travel time in the workplace. An example of this is a community-based nursing team caring for older people, such as in a senior living facility. Instead of having a morning meeting in a central office, using technology, the staff can call in by video link, which saves travel time and enables them to spend more time with patients. Excellent communication also helps staff remain engaged and focused in the workplace.
Reduce costs by supporting remote workers
Working remotely has never been more popular. In a 2016 Gallup survey, 43% of respondents said they worked from home in the past year. In industries more conducive to working remotely, such as IT and marketing, that figure exceeded 60%. The rise in prevalence of remote workers is redefining the workplace, and companies are on the hunt for solutions to best support their employees and keep up productivity. Communications tools are a vital component for remote workers, and companies need to invest in the implementation of unified communications collaborative support tools.
Remote workers generally supply their computers and equipment. So long as they have an internet connection, they can log into your hosted PBX and participate in collaboration with other employees. Training remote employees still carry a cost, but the turnover of remote employees costs less than in-office employees precisely because of the reduction of equipment costs.
The world of technology is moving at such a pace that keeping up to date with new ways of working can be a challenge. A hosted PBX enables greater collaboration as well as offers many solutions for creating interactive training solutions where employees work together on specific training modules. For example, while the millennial worker has the edge on technological advances, such as social media and coding, a more mature worker may use expertise in creative ways. Allowing these different employees to can help retain staff. Reverse mentoring is a practical solution where technology is concerned. Using millennial workers to support older employees to engage with the latest technological advances is an excellent way to develop positive relationships between intergenerational workers, and to open opportunities to work collaboratively. In turn, the practical experience of the older worker will enhance the skill sets of millennials, creating a learning culture in the workplace where everyone has something to offer.
MIX Networks Hosted PBX solutions enable businesses to meet the needs of their employees
Recruiting top talent in your industry can be challenging, especially in the current tight job market. You need the competitive edge so not only can you attract the talent to your business, but retain it. MIX Networks hosted PBX solutions enable you to meet the needs of your employees – and keep them loyal so they stay with you.
