A common challenge in the parking industry is high turnover rates among hourly workers. The time and resources dedicated to recruitment, onboarding and training can be wiped out in an instant when an employee decides to leave. The logical question to ask out of this is, what is the cause of turnover? As more millennials enter the workforce, a common conclusion is that employees leave, because they feel entitled beyond what is reasonable given their work experience, but I suggest to you that the bigger issue is disengagement. There was a time when a job and a paycheck were adequate carrots to motivate employees, but this is no longer the case.

How Do I Fit Into the Bigger Picture?

Today’s workforce seeks to understand how their work fits into the bigger picture within their organization. An easy way to achieve this is through goal setting. Survey after survey has demonstrated that managers who set goals with employees are the exception not the rule, and this can be a big missed opportunity. When an employee joins your company and/or team, they should establish goals with their supervisor within the first week on the job. This provides them a roadmap to success and begins to connect those dots between their work and the company’s larger objectives.

Is My Performance Meeting Expectations?

If the idea of sitting down with an employee and providing constructive feedback makes your hands sweat, your employees are probably asking themselves this question. The reality is that employees strongly desire feedback. They want to know what they are doing well, and how they can improve, because this helps them progress on within their own careers. Once goals are set with an employee, they provide a basis for delivering feedback based on how an employee is progressing towards their completion. Seek and provide feedback to employees as a regular part of interactions, and it will become easier with every exchange.

Want to learn more about how to engage your workforce? This quarter’s HR Parking Exchange discusses essential components of effective onboarding programs. If you have a role with developing and/or delivering your company’s onboarding program, join the conversation with your industry colleagues by registering here for this live event is happening today, February 25th at 2pm EST/11am PST.