Your addiction treatment facility is only as good as the talented staff who run it. But what happens when you lose those staff members?

Having a revolving door of staff coming and going from your addiction treatment center is a huge liability—both for your clinical operations and your bottom line. Selecting, training, and retaining talent needs to be a top priority at your facility. 

Today, we’ll look at the the hidden cost of employee turnover in addiction treatment and explore some of the top suggestions experts have for minimizing turnover at your center. 

Addiction Treatment Employee Turnover: How High is It?

In a nutshell: very high. 

While turnover rates are already high in the healthcare field in general, they are even higher in the addiction treatment industry. 

General healthcare turnover rates in 2017 was 20.6%. 

Studies consistently place the turnover rate in the addiction treatment industry between 19% and 50%. Annual turnover rates for counselors generally hovers around 33.2% and clinical supervisors typically experience a churn rate of about 23.4%. 

Addiction Treatment Employee Turnover: What’s the Cost?

The average cost of an employee in the healthcare industry is $60,000. 

In order to calculate the cost of turnover at your organization, multiply the total number of employees you have by the rate of expected turnover. If you don’t know the rate, start with 20% as a conservative estimate. Take that number and multiply it by the average salary for your staff. That number is the rough cost of your turnover, per year. 

Some of the costs, however, are difficult to quantify. 

Consider: 

• Impaired treatment continuity for patients 

• Loss of patient trust 

• Loss of institutional knowledge 

• Heavier workloads for remaining staff, even if only temporary

• Staff time lost in hiring and training new employees

What Are the Drivers of Employee Turnover in Addiction Treatment? 

There are many reasons that employees might choose to leave your organization, but there are some consistent themes addiction treatment executives need to be aware of. 

These include: 

• Lack of adequate compensation 

• Lack of adequate benefits

• Burnout and stress

• Ineffective management team

• No opportunity for advancement 

• Lack of employee engagement in the work (feeling like their ideas don’t matter or their efforts aren’t making a big-picture difference)

• Poor hiring practices (hiring the wrong candidates, failing to evaluate cultural fit, poor onboarding, etc.)

How Can I Reduce Employee Turnover at my Center?

If you’re looking to reduce turnover at your organization, the first and best thing you can do is to offer the best compensation package possible. Compensation ranks as the highest concern for employees when it comes to accepting—and staying in—a position. 

Next, make sure you are taking your time in the hiring process. Select candidates who are a good fit for the culture of the organization. Rush the process and you’ll just be hiring a temporary employee. 

At the same time, make sure your management team isn’t driving some of your turnover. After compensation, poor management is the next biggest reason for high employee turnover. Be sure to offer regular training in “soft skills” like communication and crisis management for your managers. Good management is a rare and complex skill set that usually needs to be learned. Just because an employee is good at the job doesn’t mean they will be good at managing others to do the job. Assessing trouble with your management team can be difficult because most employees would sooner find a new position than attempt to bring management problems to light. 

Finally, make sure you are giving your employees the tools they need to do their job as easily as possible. Old, outdated technology and EHR systems can cause a lot of frustration for your already stressed workforce. When you fail to supply your employees with systems that function well, you erode your relationship with them. Employees tend to take bad technology in the workplace personally. A glitchy, hard-to-use software program or a clunky, old laptop communicates a lack of care and respect for your staff. Providing staff with intuitive and easy-to-use tools communicates the high value you place on staff satisfaction.

Happy Addiction Treatment Employees = Low Employee Turnover

Because addiction treatment is a naturally high stress work environment, you’ll never completely eliminate staff turnover. It will always be an issue. However, there are steps you can take to reduce employee turnover and retain your most talented staff. 

At BehaveHealth, we specialize in addiction treatment software that makes life easier for your staff. Our all-in-one solution puts everything your staff needs—EHR, CRM, billing—in one place, accessible from any device, at any time. Why not make your first move to reducing employee turnover by claiming your free trial today?