Have you ever started a job with a company and noticed how many other employees left within the first three months?
Well, that's generally not a good sign!
One of the challenges that organisations face in an ever-changing market is the difficulty in retaining employees.
To overcome this barrier, we developed six retention strategies (with examples) that can assist you in retaining talent in your business.
But wait...
Before implementing any strategies, you must first develop an employee retention plan!
Why?
An employee retention plan will allow you to identify employee gaps within your business and strategies that will influence your employees to stay.
Here’s how:
Analyse your business retention situation
Calculate your turnover rates and determine what needs to occur to fill in any gaps. Evaluate the current situation and see what areas need improvement within your company by asking yourself some of these questions:
Are our employees motivated and engaged?
Are we overworking our employees, or do we help balance their work & personal lives?
Is there clear communication within the company?
What’s our company culture like?
Do we offer any career development opportunities?
These questions will help you identify your current retention situation as a company and guide you when deciding which strategies to implement.
So you have developed your retention plan but are not sure what strategies to use? - Here are six strategies to get you started!
Career Development Opportunities
One of the main reasons for staff turnover is the lack of growth and career progression. Often employees want to work for a company that offers career development opportunities to increase their knowledge, strengths and skills that better equips them for their role. Offer internal training programs, webinars, and weekly training sessions. There are many training programs & courses available for different industries.
Example:
At Kennedy Reid, we lock in 1-hour training sessions every Wednesday to participate in internal training programs. One week, we had our consultants participate in the Greg Savage webinar that focuses on the latest trends in recruitment and how to respond to it. From this, our consultants have become more confident when communicating with candidates about counteroffers and delivering feedback.
Make your employees feel valued
Make employees feel valued by acknowledging their achievements and showing your appreciation for what they have done for the company.
Example:
Give weekly shoutout's to employees who have excelled throughout the week or organise a gift basket to be delivered to their homes as a 'Thank you' for their efforts.
Promote a healthy work-life balance
Ensure your employees are not overworked or overwhelmed with their work, and train your managers to assist when these issues arise. Assist your managers in improving their coaching skills to provide specific benefits when employees are struggling. Encourage employees to take regular breaks and not work excessive hours to promote a healthy work-life balance.
Example:
Offer annual leave for your employees on their birthdays or free gym memberships to encourage your staff to stay active, fit & healthy.
Create a positive culture
Company culture is another factor that influences an employee's decision to work at a given company. Businesses with negative work cultures result in disengaged employees and high staff turnover, making it critical to establish a positive work culture.
Example:
Host a trivia night over zoom! This is a fun way for your employees to socialise with other colleagues - especially if your employees are working from home.
Mentors
Having mentors is an excellent way to teach new employees about your company while also making them feel welcome. When a new employee is paired with an experienced employee, they can guide and mentor them as they learn how to carry out the role's responsibilities. Having mentors also enables the seasoned employee to act as their best resource where the new starter can gather information and receive feedback on their performance.
Example:
Introduce a buddy system.
Communication & feedback
Ensure that your team members receive clear communication and feedback on their performance.
Example:
Schedule one-on-one meetings once a week to gain a better understanding of their short-term and long-term professional goals. Deliver feedback on how well they are performing in achieving these goals.
Summary
There are numerous retention strategies available to help you. However, it is critical to analyze your business retention situation first and determine which areas need improvement within the organisation to prevent high staff turnover rates and to fill these gaps.
Different strategies can have different results depending on the company and size, making it crucial to implement them slowly. This will allow you to determine how effective the strategy is so that you can focus on the ones that work best for your company.
As this is possibly the most overlooked aspect of running a successful business, organisations must implement retention strategies to retain existing employees and potentially attract new ones. Retention strategies can improve employee performance and productivity while also contributing to a company's market growth.
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