The results showed that employees, particularly entry level and junior staff on non-standard schedules, are more likely to quit their job because of general job dissatisfaction and because of pressures from family and/or friends. They also found that employees on day shifts or weekday only schedules would remain with their employer longer than those who work on non-day shifts or on the weekends.

Based on the recommendations of this research here is today’s Daily HR Tip: Employers should consider paying entry-level and junior employees working non-standard shifts more if they want to increase retention length. They should also offer financial incentives for employees to work non-standard work hours. This should improve retention rates and motivation levels for workers on non-traditional schedules and thereby reduce employee turnover costs.

When employees leave, organizations have to attend to the high cost of training and development, burnout of existing staff, and decreased quality of products and services due to the shortage of staff. Employee turnover can be a costly problem—particularly for information technology companies.

According to recently published research by Abii, Rose, and Ogula, the U.S. Department of Commerce estimates that the United States will require more than 1.3 million new and highly skilled IT workers to address the projected staff shortage. Their research examined the role of employee satisfaction in the turnover rate of employees in the IT industry and found that the following factors had the most influence on IT employee satisfaction and retention: challenging work, respect, a balanced work life, effective leadership, and a workplace that fosters risk taking.