One in three employees is planning to leave their jobs within the next 12 months, research by people engagement software Leapsome discovered.

As co-founder and co-CEO of Leapsome, Jenny von Podewils recognized this statistic could cause severe consequences for companies and required a closer look at why employees were leaving and where change could be made.

At From Day One’s October virtual, von Podewils shared Leapsome’s research and how technology can assist in retaining top talent

Fostering an Inclusive Workplace Culture

Studies show that a toxic workplace culture can be a strong predictor of turnover and is ten times more important than compensation in predicting turnover. In Leapsome’s research, von Podewils discovered similar results.

“Workplace culture is a key reason why employees end up leaving,” von Podewils said. “You might want to ask yourself questions such as, have you been able to generate a sense of belonging for your people and do people feel recognized for their work? Are you able to generate enough transparency so that people feel they're part of a bigger picture?”

Building an inclusive workplace culture begins with strong employee engagement, von Podewils said. This requires companies to create a culture of listening and making actionable changes that can be measured through AI tools and systems.

“First, listen to your employees on what works and what needs to be improved through engagement surveys, regular pulse surveys, and hone in on that data,” von Podewils said. “Turning that data into actionable next steps and action plans that get it from an intelligent system can help you to focus on the elements that ultimately have the biggest impact in your specific organization.”

Building a Career Path for Employees

In a study on the impact of professional development, researchers discovered 92% of employees believed that professional development was important to their careers.

This finding was also apparent in von Podewils’ research. Companies need to be able to develop clear career paths for employees through personalized development courses and promotion processes, von Podewils said. To do so, managers need to spend more time evaluating the performance of their employees and provide effective feedback.

“Running effective 360 feedback just makes sure we add a different perspective and generate a holistic picture around the strengths of an individual, and to provide a competency framework that is relevant in the context of a particular role or company,” von Podewils said.

Creating a framework of achievable goals and milestones can help employees stay on the right track to developing skills needed for career growth, von Podewils said. “This is why personalized career paths are so important to ensure that we connect the dots and provide directions, but also provide actionable support to how someone can move on to that next step of their career paths,” von Podewils said.

Cultivating Healthy, Strong Manager Relationships

With the most direct relationship with employees, managers play a significant role in employee retention. Poor managers can have a negative impact on employees, with 82% of employees stating they would potentially leave because of a bad manager.

To build stronger relationships, companies need to make sure managers have the support and resources they need, von Podewils said. Here, von Podewils points to AI technology like Leapsome’s AI copilot that managers can lean on to help write effective feedback for their employees.

“When managers have to write development or performance feedback, [our AI copilot] builds upon the existing feedback that they've previously given to help the managers craft good feedback,” von Podewils said. “It makes that process much easier for them so that they are focused on being better prepared in the actual conversation with your employees.”

Editor’s note: From Day One thanks our partner, Leapsome, for sponsoring this thought leadership spotlight.

Wanly Chen is a writer and poet based in New York City.