TOP FIVE EFFECTIVE EMPLOYEE RETENTION STRATEGIES

TOP FIVE EFFECTIVE EMPLOYEE RETENTION STRATEGIES

Why do employees leave?

In addition to providing valuable insight into the perspective of your employees, exit interviews can determine if you need to make improvements to your employee retention strategy.
Typically, departing employees cite one or more of these reasons for leaving their position:

• Insufficient salary and benefits
• Feeling overburdened and/or unsupported
• Career advancement is limited
• Work-life balance needs to be improved
• Underrecognition
• Tiredness
• Managerial unhappiness
• Financial or strategic concerns about the company
• Company culture is unsatisfactory
• Change is desired

What can an employer do?

According to a recent study, 40% of employees plan to look for a new job within the next six months, and 69% say they are already looking passively.
We find those figures alarming as employers. We are careful to hire only the best workers, and we want to keep them once we keep them. Employees need to be given a good reason to stay at a company if they are to make a long-term commitment. We encourage employers to create cultures in which strong relationships are built with their employees, the kinds of relationships that speak to a lasting commitment, even a lifetime commitment.

Employee Retention Strategies

1. Assign the right responsibilities: Employees should be given responsibilities that will help them grow. Encourage them to learn new skills. Provide ample opportunities for continuing education. Provide opportunities for internal promotion whenever feasible.


2. Respect your employees: Employees desire a sense of respect and appreciation. As the saying goes, people may forget what you said, but they will always remember what you did to make them feel. It is not uncommon for workplace legends to revolve around the horrid actions and words of weary and stressed-out managers. In contrast, managers who make it a priority to show outward respect to employees on a regular basis will build a strong and lasting workplace culture in addition to giving employees positive experiences and memories they will never forget.



3. Shared revenue: Your employees’ wages should be tied to the performance of your company. By aligning their interests with the company’s revenue and profit goals, this will serve as an incentive for them to stay with the company as it grows. In addition to making your company more resilient and agile, you can also treat your employees exceptionally well if you make the fixed cost of payroll more variable under different business conditions.

4. Recognition of achievement and efforts: Your rewards should address the emotional needs of your employees beyond monetary rewards. A company’s culture can be positively influenced by the recognition of employees, company and department parties, corporate service projects, lunches with the boss, company logo clothing, handwritten notes, etc. They can also be good morale builders for the employees.

5. Downtime: Take plenty of time off. In spite of the tough economy, provide sufficient time for vacations, sick days, and newborns. Pacing workflow can increase employee satisfaction and loyalty. It is reasonable to expect high-quality performance, but it is not reasonable to expect that pressure will be continuous at 100 percent. Employees need to be able to catch their breath between tasks by engaging in team-building activities or taking mini breaks throughout the day.
   In order to maintain a long-term commitment, both parties must put in effort. In spite of the understandable repulsion toward perpetual “hoppers,” remember that if you expect your employees to remain loyal to your business, you will also need to give them good reasons to do so.