Human Capital Management, Human Resources
10 Ways to Improve Employee Retention
If your company wants to decrease employee turnover and improve its employee retention strategies, it may be time to look into new ways to keep your staff engaged. From detailed onboarding techniques or exciting career paths to competitive compensation and benefits, employees are more likely to stay with your company if you show them they’re valuable members of your team. Here are 10 tips for improving employee retention.
Tip One: Be Specific When Recruiting
Employee retention depends on who you hire for your company in the first place. Make sure you clearly define the role and the person who will be most successful in that role before you begin the hiring process. Include information about tasks, responsibilities, skills, qualifications and any experience they might need to be successful. Some employees also appreciate knowing who they might work with and what personality types work best in your organization.
With this information in place, you can hire the right person for your business and someone who understands and appreciates your company’s values and mission.
By setting your employees up for success and hiring qualified people, you can move on to helpful orientation strategies to solidify your new employee’s skills and introductory knowledge. During orientation, you can use a centralized knowledge base, clear communication skills, a designated point person and informative documentation to set your expectations for the new hire’s role in the company.
Tip Two: Improve Onboarding and Training
New employees will also benefit from transparent and communicative onboarding and training processes. This is your opportunity as a company to show the hires that they fit in with your business model. Let them absorb the company’s culture and assess whether or not they might be happy here long-term.
You can set up your new hires for success using training, tours, onboarding and team introductions. You’ll also want to decide who should lead the onboarding process, whether a manager with direct reports or an HR professional with excellent leadership skills. If you’ve hired employees for remote work, ensure they have equal access to training modules and information as in-person staff.
Tip Three: Implement Career Goals and Professional Paths
Another great way to improve employee retention is to identify areas where employees can grow professionally or learn new skills. Also known as upskilling, teaching and encouraging new skills is more critical than ever as technology becomes an essential part of the workplace.
Your company can encourage staff to learn new computer skills or competencies while prioritizing professional development. Professional development may look like:
- Attending conferences
- Offering tuition reimbursement
- Paying for education or providing free courses
- Outlining succession planning
- Offering mentorship programs
These measures build your staff’s leadership capabilities and make your employees feel valued at work.
Appreciation and improved leadership skills may also produce job security, keeping your talented employees engaged and willing to work for a long time.
Tip Four: Provide Competitive Compensation and Salaries
Offering competitive compensation or salaries is another excellent way to increase employee retention. While many companies have to evaluate their current salary options and adjust them throughout the years, providing adequate compensation gives people a reason to stay at their job rather than finding another option with more competitive rates.
A good salary may also improve employee morale. When staff sees how much the company values them, they’ll be more likely to stay and work for your company. Along with a great salary, employees will also appreciate generous benefits and perks that make their jobs even more appealing.
Tip Five: Offer Benefits and Perks
Providing appealing benefits and perks will also help support employee retention. For example, including a health care package for your employees, such as insurance or a company doctor, can keep staff happy and cared for. Many staff members also appreciate employee leave, supporting a healthy work-life balance.
Exciting and unique perks will also stand out to new hires and engage your current staff. Boost employee morale by offering perks like mental health support, free books and informational materials, travel stipends or parental leave.
Tip Six: Support Inclusion and Diversity
Your company can also build a culture that supports inclusion and diversity in the workplace. Employees who feel they belong at a company are often more likely to stay. Hiring and sustaining a diverse team may inspire your staff members to do better work and drive excellent results. Inclusion can also encourage employees with protected characteristics to apply for the job. In doing so, your company can outdo other teams and increase its overall performance.
Tip Seven: Offer Feedback
Establishing a feedback culture is another great way to increase employee retention. Try to meet with each team member to develop professional goals and plans. You can also discuss career advancements and realistic goals. Whatever the case, offering employee feedback can help staff feel satisfied with their work and valued within the company.
You can also seek feedback from employees about how your organization can improve. Your feedback protocol can look like an HR channel or survey system. Make sure your space is safe and respectful, allowing employees to give feedback without consequences.
Tip Eight: Encourage Work-Life Balance
A healthy work-life balance helps your employees feel valued and appreciated. Managers and company leaders should understand that their employees have lives outside of work and encourage them to maintain a healthy relationship with work and home.
Make sure your employees set some boundaries for workdays and take vacation times when needed. For days that a staff member needs to stay late into the night, try to offer them extra time to compensate for their trouble.
Many employees also enjoy working from home full or part-time. Making this option available to staff members can look different for various companies, including flextime, telecommuting or a compressed workweek.
Tip Nine: Promote Rest and Wellbeing
Burnout and stress are among the reasons why employees leave the workplace. While short-term fixes like apps or random days off may be helpful sometimes, you’ll want to focus on building a culture focused on employee health and wellbeing. Help employees balance their workload and appropriate time off. Ensure your managers help team members with their mental and physical health while avoiding burnout.
Tip Ten: Strive for a Culture of Recognition
Employee engagement and retention begin and end with a company that values and recognizes employees’ achievements. Perhaps your team finished a critical project ahead of schedule, or a staff member reached their fifth anniversary. Whatever the case, celebrating your employees helps them feel appreciated and valued.
Try embracing a culture of recognition by holding weekly meetings or starting a digital kudos board. Or you can have one-on-one sessions with individual team members to thank them for their hard work.
Improve Employee Retention With Help From Exude Human Capital
Founded in 2006, Exude is a consulting firm that advises companies seeking assistance with employee benefits, diversity, leadership development or human resources. Our company can help your business improve employee retention and satisfaction, resulting in better business practices. Contact us at Exude today to speak to a representative.
