Top 5 Tips For Increasing Employee Retention

Losing a good employee is bad news, regardless of the size or stage of your business. It has a knock-on effect on the rest of your team and costs the business money. If you are losing top performers, it’s time to do something about it.

According to the Wall Street Journal, experts have stated that finding, recruiting and training a new employee costs 2.5 times the salary of an existing employee. 

Plus, the impact of being one employee down impacts the workload of your team members, adding work-related stress and reducing productivity. It can also impact workplace morale. For some employees, losing a colleague can be the push they need to start looking for a new job of their own.

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Why Do Employees Leave?

Some employees are open and honest in their exit interviews, providing an insight into the reasons that led them to leave. Others may not feel comfortable discussing their reasons for leaving. 

For the most part, the annual salary is typically not the reason employees leave. After all, there are so many salary comparison tools available nowadays, making it easy to rule out any discrepancies with the annual salary. Instead, studies have found that the most common reasons for leaving include:

• Lack of career growth

• Feeling burnt out / struggling with stress

• Lack of flexible working options i.e. remote working, flexible hours

• The behavior of management/supervisors/colleagues

• Relocation

• Feeling unchallenged by the work

• Feeling unappreciated

Regardless of the reasons, you shouldn’t be waiting until an exit interview to think about reducing employee turnover. Here are our top 5 tips to help you improve employee retention.

1. Improve Your Recruitment Process

It is no surprise that there is a connection between a great recruitment process and high retention rates. To attract talent is one thing, but to attract and retain talent is something else altogether. And it starts with choosing the right candidate. 

But this doesn’t just mean they have the skills and experience required for the job. A job candidate should also fit well with their team members and be able to thrive within your company culture. 

Also, when reading CVs, look out for candidates that have longevity in their previous jobs. Did they stay with a company through ups and downs? Did they go the extra mile, volunteering or joining team activities? Do they speak about their previous jobs/companies in a professional manner? If the answer is yes, this demonstrates loyalty, reliability, and perseverance. 

During interviews, spend some time getting to know the individual's personality, as well as their skillset and experience. If you get to know a person well enough in the interview, you can gauge whether or not they’re a good fit for the company culture.

Having a mentorship program can also help provide the best possible start for your new employees.

2. Communicate One-To-One

How often do you have one-to-one meetings with your employees? My guess is not often enough. But so much good can come from having a chat with an employee. 

There are several important areas to discuss with your team that can improve employee retention. For example, during a one-to-one meeting, you can:

• provide positive feedback and ensure your employee feels appreciated for the hard work they are putting in

• ask for feedback, discuss job satisfaction and gain an understanding of positive changes that may improve the lives of your employees and ensure a healthy work-life balance. This could include flexible working hours or remote working

• discuss career advancement goals and provide guidance on how your employee can grow within the company.

3. Allow Opportunities For Career Growth

Career growth is very important to employees. If employees feel as if they cannot grow within your company, they will likely find a job elsewhere. So, it’s crucial to ensure that there is always room for promotions and career development. 

For some employees, it may simply be a slight change to their role or an added responsibility that keeps them motivated. For others, it may be an advancement to the next stage in their career. 

You should be offering training and providing your team with the tools they need to improve their skills and broaden their experience.

4. Focus On Employee Wellness

Time and time again, studies have found that healthier employees are happier. Wellness perks are a great way to improve the health and wellbeing of your team, effectively reducing stress and improving workplace productivity and employee engagement.

Plus, prioritizing employee wellness demonstrates that you care about the health and wellbeing of your team. There are several ways to implement employee wellness perks. 

You could provide gym memberships or discounts to local exercise classes – but tons of companies do that. To stand out from the crowd and retain top talent, you need to go the extra mile. And this includes focusing on mental wellbeing.

An employee wellbeing app is a great way to help employees priorities their mental health and wellbeing. It allows your team members to track their sleep, exercise and mood and provides valuable resources and advice on how they can improve their overall wellness. 

Better yet, you (the employer) can access the app data through an online portal. This will give you an insight into which employees may need additional support to improve their physical and mental health.

5. Create A Positive Company Culture

Imagine walking into the workplace and feeling a weight of unease settle on your shoulders. For many employees, that’s the norm they face every day when working within an uncomfortable and negative company culture. 

There are several reasons why a business may have a poor company culture. These include poor communication, micro-management, unmanageable workload, workplace bullying, ineffective leaders, and general cynicism about work.

If any of these problems sound familiar, it’s time to fix them. And this usually means starting from the top. Talk openly to your employees and gain a better understanding of the key problems within your business. Then set about improving them. 

Happy employees are 61% more likely to understand how their contribution will be assessed than employees who are looking for a new job

It may be that your managers need additional leadership training. Or perhaps your employees need the time to connect and build positive workplace relationships.

Whatever the solution, finding it sooner rather than later is crucial if you want to improve employee retention.

About Author: This article is written by our marketing team at HR Cloud. HR Cloud is a leading provider of HR solutions, including recruiting, onboarding, employee engagement, and intranet software. Our aim is to help your company improve employee engagement, employee productivity, and to save you valuable time!