This amount includes the expenses associated with recruiting a replacement, covering the workload of the position while it is vacant, orienting and training the new person, hiring temporary workers to fill in, etc. Another serious effect of employee turnover is the opportunity cost of turnover on company operations. Opportunity cost refers to the cost of not doing something. The drivers of opportunity costs that results from not preventing employee turnover include vacant positions, untrained workers, and employees stretched too thin. Viewing the program results overall, Best Companies finalists in all size groupings reported significantly lower turnover rates than their industry peers.
Loyal customers make buying decisions considering a particular company as a preferred supplier.
The research shows that loyal customers not only make repeat purchases, but they tend to buy with greater frequency. On top of that, they buy more expensive items and are less trouble to serve well, so the cost to sell to them is lower too. A loyal customer is like an annuity. In the Best Companies to Work For program, applicants were asked to describe the current state of customer loyalty toward their companies. Harvard Business School professors James L. Heskett and W. Earl Sasser Jr., and executive Leonard A. Schlessinger have created the service-profit chain concept in their book of the same name.