It’s that time of year, and if you’re strategic, you will forecast next year’s possibilities, plan for the worst, and ask for funding now. You know that upfront investment can pay off and improve the bottom line, but it’s still a challenge to convince leadership.

Facts to make your case: The cost of turnover is 16-20% of the annual salary. If you lose one person who makes $20 per hour ($41, 600), and let’s go with the 16%, it costs you at minimum $6,656 and the maximum cost can exceed that number depending on different factors. What goes into turnover costs? Recruiting costs, onboarding costs, training, decreased productivity and absenteeism (while job hunting), loss of engagement, and an increase in costly mistakes are just a few results.

If employee engagement and employee experience are top-of-mind, consider adding these three items to your budget:

1. Employee engagement surveys

Get to the bottom of what drives your employees. Use a third party to conduct this survey to get the most authentic feedback. No one is going to give you their real unfiltered opinions if an internal person is asking the questions. Emplify is making the news with its innovative, easy to use, and data-driven engagement surveys. They have strategically crafted survey questions that address true engagement, rather than simply job satisfaction. Surveys are designed with efficiency in mind and can be completed in the same amount of time you finish your morning coffee—just six minutes, 11 seconds. Check them out and see where they are making millions of global employees LOVE Mondays!

2. Training, development, and coaching

Group classes such as CliftonStrengths show an investment in your team. Supervisory training helps the engagement of all employees, and since managers are cited as the #1 reason employees leave their companies, this is key. Sexual harassment, diversity and inclusivity training help support a culture where people can be their most productive and are more likely to stay. Consider the attorneys’ costs for defending a lawsuit and that should be enough justification for preventing bad behavior with training.

3. Outplacement

Do you see a companywide reorg on the horizon? Are there players in your organization who are toxic? Is there a merger slated for 2019? Getting the right people in the right places sometimes means people need to leave. If any of these scenarios sound like possibilities for 2019, it’s best to prepare ahead of time and budget for outplacement. For most employees, it’s quite inexpensive, often paying for itself. Here’s why:

• Employees using outplacement find positions 60% faster, which reduces your unemployment costs.
• Employees offered outplacement are less likely to sue the company, saving you legal fees and time responding to claims.
• Remaining employees are more satisfied and productive when the company treats departing coworkers respectfully and with compassion.
• Companies who offer outplacement have higher Net Promoter Scores and higher ratings on social media, which helps to recruit new employees.
• Offering outplacement improves your employer brand and supports a positive and values-driven culture.

Successful Human Resource leaders work closely with their counterparts in the Finance Department. Get to know your colleagues and partner with them to get an accurate forecast and budget for 2019. This communication up front will help get their buy-in and support your case. Let’s wrap up 2018 and get excited for a 2019 filled with fun Mondays!

Click here to learn more about how Purple Ink can help you in these three areas and more in 2019, or reach out to us directly. Our consultants would love to talk to you about what we can do to make next year JoyPowered!