Retention problems can be a significant drag on the success and growth of a company. Maybe you feel like you have talented people, but many of them seem to leave for other opportunities after a few years. The high turnover disrupts operations and leads to additional costs as you have to find new people and bring them up to speed.
If this sounds familiar, you might wonder what you can do to remedy your low retention rates. The answer is different for every company. For most employers, addressing low retention may require several adjustments. However, increasing retention is worth the time and effort.
But what can you do to reduce employee turnover and ensure you keep your best people? This post will explore strategies you can deploy at your business.
Review Employee Compensation
Fair compensation is the cornerstone of employee retention. All your work on other retention efforts may fall short if employees feel their pay doesn’t reflect their value. They’re also likely to feel unsatisfied and unappreciated. These feelings can spread to create a toxic environment with low motivation.
The first step is to review salaries and ensure they align with industry standards. Along with that, look at your schedule for raises. Beyond financial compensation, you must also look at employee benefits. Health insurance and paid time off are good places to start. Employers may also want to consider benefits like retirement accounts with matching contributions and life insurance.
Update Your Hiring and Onboarding Practices
Good hiring and onboarding practices are crucial for high retention. Finding the right people involves more than evaluating skills and experience—you need individuals who fit your company’s mission and culture. Define what your company values in different positions and the traits that align with your goals. You can then create a recruiting and interview process that helps you find the right people.
Once you hire the right person, how you integrate them with the company also matters. Beyond training new hires, focus on making them feel welcome and part of the team. Provide clear expectations and ensure they understand the mission. Consider assigning new hires mentors or guides to learn their way around. With a thoughtful onboarding process, you can build commitment and loyalty in new hires.
Workplace Communication
Communication is essential for a healthy work environment and retention. Miscommunications can lead to frustration that may cause people to look elsewhere. Start by holding regular meetings to discuss goals, updates, and projects. These meetings should be structured, purposeful, and open to employee input. You should also ensure teams have the tools they need for communication. Consider things like project management tools, messaging apps, and group chat platforms. Encourage two-way communication by creating an environment where employees feel comfortable voicing concerns and sharing ideas.
Create a Supportive Work Environment
Employees need to feel they have the necessary support to succeed and help the company reach its goals. Start by ensuring employees have the training, tools, and resources they need to excel. Regularly check in with your team to address challenges and offer guidance. Make sure employees know they can come to leadership when they have problems.
Recognition and appreciation can also be core elements of creating a supportive environment. Let employees know you appreciate their efforts. You could also create recognition programs to reward employees for achievements. Connecting gifts or an award plaque to recognition can also make it more tangible.
Encourage a Balanced Life
You must remember your employees are more than just workers. They have lives away from their careers. If you don’t allow for enough balance, they will feel burned out and unsatisfied. Eventually, this will lead to all your top people leaving.
Offering flexible work options can be one way to promote balance. Maybe allow for remote or hybrid work arrangements when possible. Beyond that, you should respect your employees’ off hours. While there may come times when you need to contact them, it should only be when necessary. If it can wait until tomorrow, let it wait.
Offer Workplace Perks
A more enjoyable workplace can help with retention efforts. One of the first things to look at is the workstations. Make sure they’re set up for productivity and to reduce strain. Provide comfortable furniture to ease the burden of a long day. People will also appreciate comfortable break areas and food perks like free snacks. Good appliances for fixing break-time meals can also enhance the experience.
Show a Path to Advancement
Talented people will not stay with a company if they don’t see a path for growth and advancement. By offering clear paths for career development, you can increase retention and motivate employees to perform their best. Show employees that there are growth opportunities and advance people from within whenever possible. You could also highlight these successes to show employees you value career development.
Another step is to have regular career meetings with employees. Meet with people once or twice a year to discuss their career goals and place in the company. You could even help them work on development plans and build a strategy with a timeline. Companies should also offer training and development programs to help employees grow.
Retention isn’t something you work on once and forget. It requires ongoing effort. With the tips in this post, you have a foundation for getting your retention efforts on track. Some companies may also benefit from hiring consultants that specialize in retention or improving employee outcomes.
