Marketing Turnover Rates: 4 Ways To Reduce Turnover and Keep Your Staff Happy

Have you ever noticed that the “People on the Move” section of your local business journal almost always features someone in marketing? It’s often a marketing professional in the architecture, engineering, or construction fields. Why are marketing turnover rates so high in the industry?

It could be the long hours, difficult to find work/life balance, or crushing pressure to keep a steady flow of work coming in. It could also be a result of poor internal processes, lack of communication, or frustration with accountability.

Most of us have dealt with one or more of the above.

When I scroll through my LinkedIn, it’s not uncommon to see professionals in similar positions (proposal management, marketing coordinator, etc.) with only 1-2 years at each firm on their resume. I usually pause when I see someone has been in the same place for 5 years, and wonder how awesome their life must be if they’ve been with a firm for 10 or 15!

Why are these 5 year professionals like unicorns in the industry?

It’s expensive to train new staff, and can be frustrating – especially when proposal management is often a “learn as you go” skill that coordinators are thrust into.

With that in mind, I’ve come up with a few tips to help you keep your staff happy, and your marketing turnover rates down.

1. Understand Motivation

This tip applies to all employees, really. Understanding what motivates your staff to show up in the morning and to give their all to a project is critical to keeping them happy. By understanding motivation, we can determine the best way to motivate them, and thank them for doing a great job.

A few common motivators are recognition, status, and money.

Those motivated by recognition may simply need positive encouragement. A sticky note on their monitor with a “great job on that submittal!” can go a long way, while those motivated by status or money will be expecting promotions or raises.

2. Learn When to Say No

Burnout is probably the number one cause of marketing turnover rates. When proposals and interviews start falling from the sky, be cautious with overload.

Being slammed with proposals is a lot like swimming laps underwater. You hold your breath until you hit one wall, then turn around and start swimming toward the far wall. The difference is that you can come up for air during laps. Your staff will eventually “drown” and burnout if the proposal workflow doesn’t allow them to breathe.

Let your staff come up for air. If you’re at capacity, review your go/no-go process and see if there’s something you can cut from the workload.

If you absolutely must go after everything (a technique I don’t advise), then make sure you create some breathing time for your marketing staff. 

3. Recognize Breaking Points

Learn to recognize signs of burnout. Some employees are good at hiding it, giving their all until the end. But most will start giving you signals.

They may show up a few minutes later to work, take slightly longer lunches, or get up for more breaks. They’re trying to come up for air.

They may make more errors because they can’t quality control every single assignment without working 15 hour days.

They’ll probably even voice their concerns, or complaints. Sometimes these are clear and obvious (and will most likely be made to someone other than a manager/owner). Other times it’s not obvious – they may push for a go/no-go, or try to explain their workload without outright saying “it’s too much!”

4. Empower Your Staff

I mentioned earlier that there’s often little to no formal training in marketing. There’s usually a learn-on-the-job philosophy that’s probably accompanied by some sort of brand standards style guide and a crash course in “this is our marketing drive”.

How frustrating is it to have to learn how to learn how to do your job? (Yes, you read that right.)

Give your staff the training that they need so they feel empowered to create the best proposals and marketing campaigns possible.

Trust that the professionals you hire bring valuable experience to the table that, when combined with training on your company’s nuances, will result in booming business.

Ready to reduce your marketing turnover rates?

If you have a 5, 10, or 15+ year marketing unicorn at your firm, or you are one, let us know what’s kept you in place for so long!