5 Effective Ways to Boost Employee Retention

Do you find yourself wondering if your team members are looking to dip their toes again in the job market? Employees come and go so companies naturally experience turnover. However, a high turnover rate could cause money drain. On top of the financial burden, employees leaving could trigger “soft costs”— i.e. adverse impact on team culture, morale, and productivity. This is the reason why employee retention must be of paramount priority in any business.

So, how do you keep your top employees with you? Consider these 5 effective ways to boost your retention:

1.  Hire the Right People

It all starts with recruitment. Hiring the right person for the right position plays a significant role in employee retention. Apart from assessing background and skills, it’s equally important to identify if a candidate would fit well with the company culture. Someone with the right credentials and shares the same values as the other employees will most likely stay the course. 

Another key indicator of whether an employee will stay is his job tenure with previous employers. If you hire a job hopper, don’t be surprised if they leave out of the blue. Someone who has been with 5 companies in 2 years will be tough to keep despite great retention efforts.

2. Encourage Open Communication and Be Transparent

It’s important to keep an open and healthy line of communication. You have to make communicating a norm. But how do you achieve that? Some ways are to listen to concerns, provide candid feedback, and check-in with employees regularly. This allows them to feel valued and on the same page with everyone in the company. 

Remember that transparency and effective communication influence job satisfaction. What’s more, it promotes connection and trust throughout the organization. It’s no rocket science that these are all requisites for employee retention. 

Bonus Tip: It would immensely help to conduct stay interviews especially when employees feel comfortable speaking up. Another option is to have everyone answer a carefully designed employee survey on a regular basis. These are great ways to gather valuable insights from them. It uncovers the roots of why employees stay and what makes them want to exit the company.

3. Provide Competitive Salary & Benefits

Money is not everything. But it’s no secret — providing a competitive salary is essential in keeping talent. Know that the salary you offer doesn’t have to be the highest, you just have to stay abreast of the current market remuneration. 

Alongside pay, benefits that are actually beneficial matter. This should include high-quality health care insurance, sick and vacation leaves, and monetary allowances. Beyond these staples, you may add flexible hours, performance incentives, opportunity to telecommute, etc. Surveys should help you learn more about what other perks would truly matter for your team.

4. Offer Opportunity to Learn and Grow

Career stagnation is a typical reason why employees quit. This tells us that in order to keep an employee, the opportunity to learn and grow must be brought to the table. 

Career growth goes hand-in-hand with continuous learning, so start off by establishing a coaching culture. It’s not enough to just give random feedback. Your workforce needs consistent and objective performance evaluation. This doesn’t only help identify strengths and areas for improvement but also shows them that you see and appreciate their hard work. Pair off coaching with outside workshops, training, and seminars to create a powerful development program.

Now, maintaining the momentum is one thing, but stepping up the ladder is another. Consider offering progression by hiring internally whenever possible. It’s a win-win for you and your employees. They’re given the opportunity to move laterally or be promoted and you cut down on recruitment costs. 

Keep in mind that the employees who thrive with the company are the same ones to stay for the long haul.

5. Create a Fun Work Environment

Imagine coming to a stressful job when you already have enough personal baggage to worry about. Wouldn’t you just want to escape this and look for a job elsewhere? Hence, creating a happy and positive workplace is one employee retention strategy that would work for sure. 

You could boost the office atmosphere by doing small things like stocking your pantry with coffee and other beverages. Providing board games, giving Netflix access, and installing foosball are some more examples. Or you could go with grander options like company outings and events. You could even involve employees in organizing it. This is the perfect time to be creative. After all, you get a great deal out of employees not feeling boxed in all the time.

Here’s what employee retention really boils down to…

It affects everyone in the company — not to mention your bottom line so it has to be part of your core focus. Your efforts to keep employees should be an endless process that follows multiple approaches.