by Leigh Goessl

Created on: September 10, 2009

High levels of employee turnover have its pros and cons. In some industries, a higher level of employee turnover is expected and this is typically accounted for, however in other industries, a rapid degree of staff turnover can be costly.

Whether or not high employee turnover is a problem depends on the industry. Some industries expect and command high turnover, while other kinds of businesses depend on the longevity of employees in order to thrive, keep costs down and succeed. It's probable for most industries high employee turnover is more of a problem than a benefit.

Once evaluating the advantages and disadvantages, a manager or company executive can best determine whether or not one end of the spectrum outweighs the other, and if the rate of employee turnover is a problem that needs addressing.

Here are a few pros and cons that are associated with high employee turnover:

*Cons

>High costs are one of the biggest drawbacks to high employee turnover. It takes a lot of efforts and resources in the application process to advertise positions, recruit, interview and hire.

The costs associated with the hiring process can run steep after a while if this is a repeated pattern and the need for new employee recruitment is ongoing.

>Time Consuming

Once an employee is brought on board, they need time to learn their job and this entails training. It doesn't matter whether or not the training is informal or formal, effort and time of other employees has to be shared in order to bring the new staff member up to speed.

When colleagues are continuously pulled away from their own work to train new hires, this weighs down on their ability to do their own jobs and can impact productivity, which is costly.

The time invested in the training process is a considerable con of high employee turnover.

>Lose Tacit Knowledge

The knowledge of employees is a considerable asset for a company to possess. Everyone has something of value to add to an organization and an employer that experiences a lot of turnover is going to see a lot of that valuable knowledge walking right out the door. Perhaps even into a competitor's entryway and join their organization to share their knowledge.

*Pros

Despite the cons, there are also pros to high turnover. Some are industry specific, but others can be beneficial in a general sense too.

>New Ideas

While employees bring knowledge with them, on the flip side people often get locked into a particular mindset and sometimes see things from a pretty

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