There will always be times when your employees come down to think about staying or quitting their jobs. It could be for pursuing a different career or other reasons. But no matter what it is, your role as an employer is to make them happy while they’re still in your company.
You have to know that a happy employee could help improve their productivity and also eliminate their thoughts of leaving. And that alone could save a lot of money and effort in hiring new people. In light of this, you have to prioritize the welfare of your staff, just like how you prioritize establishing a better account-based marketing strategy for your business.
Luckily, this article will run through some ways to help you retain employees. So, make sure to keep reading to learn more. But first, let’s get a quick overview of what employee retention is all about and understand its importance.
Defining Employee Retention
Employee retention is a company’s ability to retain employees while reducing turnover. This approach is critical to a company’s success, like GDPR compliance, since having the right amount of experienced staff makes it easier to fulfill our corporate goals.
You may be able to calculate your employee retention rate by dividing the total number of employees who stayed during a given period by the total number of employees who started during the same period. The result must then be multiplied by 100 to obtain the actual percentage rate.
Importance of Employee Retention
Retaining your employees allows you to avoid the high costs of employee turnover, which include:
- The time and money invested in hiring and training a new employee
- Low productivity and output during the hiring and the onboarding process
- Reduced morale among remaining employees
Meanwhile, if you make every effort to retain your personnel, you might be able to:
- Maintain consistency in productivity across your team and the organization.
- Maintain a strong corporate culture
Keeping this in mind, you should begin looking into some employee retention strategies as soon as possible. One effective way to do this is by running agile retrospective meetings instead of repetitive, boring meetings that leave more questions than answers. Retrospective meetings focus on what went well, what could be improved, and what should the next focus be. This type of meeting encourages everyone to be productive and to pull their weight so the company can achieve goals collectively. Sometimes, employees get tired of meetings that go forever but accomplish only a few things. To retain those star employees, your leadership must show competence and be on top of things so they’ll feel competitive and challenged.
We’ve compiled a list of some practical ways to help you.
7 Ways To Retain Your Employees
1. Use Comprehensive Hiring Procedures.
Hiring the proper individuals is the first step in retaining employees. And the best way to accomplish that is to have a strong recruitment team that utilizes comprehensive hiring techniques. They should be able to select the most qualified candidate for the job based on criteria that look more than technical credentials.
Your HR team should create an environment where applicants feel comfortable communicating their values. In this manner, they will be able to determine whether or not they align with your corporate goals.
Many companies have a hiring-for-success program that focuses on attracting the best talents in many channels. Some HR teams set up a recruitment fair or join big job fairs where they could meet future star employees. Others also use the online platform to allow potential applicants to reach out via the internet. Still, others offer a referral program where their current employees can recommend somebody they know to be a part of the team and successful recommendation earns them cash or rewards.
2. Streamline the Onboarding Process.
Onboarding is a crucial phase because it determines how long the employee will stay with your organization. However, the onboarding process should not only include signing a contract and informing them of their new role. It should also teach new employees about the company’s culture, aims, and objectives and how their contributions and efforts might contribute to the company’s success.
3. Create a Positive Environment With a Work/Life Balance.
Every employee wishes to work in an environment where they feel supported. Therefore, you must establish a positive environment where your employees may grow and perform to the best of their abilities.
There are several ways to accomplish this, but one you’d like to include is promoting work-life balance. Expecting employees to be in work mode for the entire day would only lead to burnout, causing them to reconsider their decision to work for the company. In light of this, you must anticipate their lives outside the office and offer them some time off or breaks when needed.
Another way to foster work/life balance is organizing events and parties to celebrate them and their culture. There are many holiday party ideas for employees you can do, so be sure to select one that will be memorable.
4. Contribute to the Growth of Your Employees.
Employees who see a promising future in your company stay longer. So, you must then develop a career plan for them. Having a career plan lays a clear path for your staff to progress within your organization, which can give them motivation. It would also be best if you provide training and development to reach their goals.
5. Pay Your Employees a Fair Wage and Offer Benefits.
A significant impact on employee turnover is their compensation. As build a career in your firm, ensure to analyze and modify their pay accordingly. It is a must to align the salary with their tenure and responsibilities.
Aside from compensation, benefits also affect employee retention. So, offer them performance bonuses, paid leaves, insurance plans, and more. If they’re a parent, giving them parental leaves can help.
More than the monetary compensation, some employees love to receive perks in non-monetary forms. Because of this some companies offer vouchers for fitness clubs, digital vouchers, and even entertainment vouchers they can use to see a movie or a concert.
6. Provide Rewards and Recognition for Their Achievements.
Recognizing and rewarding your staff for their achievements will inspire them to perform better. Celebrating their hard work, whether through public acknowledgment or cash incentives, can make them feel valued. And their decision to stay or leave is heavily influenced by this factor.
7. Establish a Culture That Values Feedback.
Communication, as they say, is everything. That being said, you must create an environment where employees may openly share their opinions regarding their job, management, and the work environment. Simply listening to their suggestions makes them feel important as employees and individuals.
However, simply hearing should not be the end of the process. It would be best if you took the appropriate steps to resolve their concerns. All of these will increase your employees’ trust in your organization and reduce their likelihood of quitting.
The Bottom Line
You must anticipate that your employees may consider quitting during their stay in your company. However, learning about some ways to retain them in your organization and utilizing them might make their decision a little more difficult. If they do decide to leave, they will most likely take with them positive memories to be shared with others—and perhaps they will consider returning to work with you one day.
