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10 Powerful Tips to Improve Your Employee Retention

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Over the years, it’s become harder for companies to keep their employees for longer periods. A 2019 research by Paycor shows that employee turnover cost over $600 million in 2018.  In the same year, over 40 million Americans, which is more than 25% of the workforce, quit their jobs.

That’s a huge sign of dissatisfaction among workers and members of staff. Employee retention presents your company with many benefits, as you will find as you read through this article.

To ensure company success and employee happiness, you must learn how to turn your employees from staff into loyal ambassadors. Improved employee retention practices will keep your organization from losing your credibility, more staff, and clients.

Find out how you can regain their trust and loyalty to keep them in your corner. Let’s go.

Employee retention is simply the ability of an organization to retain them over long periods.

It is usually expressed in the form of statistics; the percentage that remains in the company over a period of time.

There is a basic formula that you can use

employee retention formula

Companies like to present their retention rate in statistics; for instance, they can say, “we have a 75% employee retention rate.” This means that the company was able to retain 75% of its staff over a given period. Many companies strive for an 80% retention rate and above.

A high retention rate is not only a good look for the company, but it also means they will be able to attract employees who want to be a long-term part of the company. A high employee retention rate also tells customers and clients that a company is credible enough for employees to stick it out with them.

Employee retention may also be regarded as the efforts, strategies, actions, and activities a company employs to retain its staff and employees.

What is an Employee retention strategy?

Employee retention strategy is a plan of action that an organization follows to reduce the turnover rates through compensations, benefits, training, etc.

A small turnover can benefit a company but that usually depends on the type of industry it is. A higher percentage of the turnover can be expensive in terms of both money and time.

According to a survey, replacing an employee costs a company approximately 6 to 9 months salary depending on the position.

Potential workers that get high profits for the organization are an asset and losing them affects productivity and also reduces the employee morale in a particular company.

Why is employee retention important?

Employee retention is important for a company’s success. It helps the business reduce costs of hiring and onboarding new employees and boost’s the morale of other staff members. Here are a few reasons why you need to get a firm grip on your employee retention practices

1. Be careful during the process of hiring

During the hiring process, many times one can hire a worker that can prove to be a wrong addition to the company. You need to be careful during the hiring process to avoid such instances.

The wrong employees either leave your organizations early or they influence the existing one to give their notice period. Either way, you will end up with a revolving door of staff where there is wastage of money and time.

As you are evaluating the resume of a potential candidate, you need to carefully evaluate+——- their past work experience. If a candidate has had a lot of jobs but for a short period of time, it means he/she has not been loyal to the said company.

2. Encourage positive work relationships

Fostering an environment around the workers which has a positive influence is crucial. It is important that the staff work together as a team. Otherwise, they will have clashes amongst each other which will have a negative impact on the productivity of the company.

If they are connected to the organization, the management, and the human resources, they will stay loyal to your organization. New relationship development is a challenge for everyone.

But if a candidate has a team spirit within and a mentality to get along with everyone, you will see an organic reduction in the employee turnover rate.

3. Keep communication open

One of the main reasons that workers resign is the lack of communication within the organization. Whether it is between the employees, or the management and the employee, having an open line of communication is key in smooth functioning.

Employee wants proper regular feedback on the work they do in order to increase their productivity. Feedback is also important for the development, growth, and increasing the employee retention rate.

And how does feedback occur? When there is communication in the company. The managers should communicate the goals and try to understand how much a worker has understood and also provide them with constructive outputs to improve.

4. Spread love to your customers

We know by now the retention rate makes the workers happy. And motivated employees will always give their 100% to your customers. They provide better services, anticipate problems faster, and find solutions. They go the extra mile to satisfy the customers.

Employee engagement pays off in the long run. A recent survey has shown that workers who are happy are more likely to engage with customers resulting in a 21% more increase in overall productivity.

5. Promotes success

Competition is present at every level of the organization in the market. When you have skilled workers you will have more opportunities for development which will improve your sales.

Losing qualified staff will increase the chance of your competitors hiring them. This disturbs the balance of efficiency for your organization and gives your competitor an edge in the market, and no company in the right mind would want that right?

So it is your job to maintain an ethical, happy environment where everyone in your organization is satisfied.

Why are your employees not sticking around?

To groom loyal workers, you must first understand why they don’t stick around for the long haul. Why do they leave your organization? What aren’t you doing right?

Let’s examine the main causes

1. Toxic company culture

Some companies have a work environment that is toxic and poorly affects current employees’ productivity and performance.

Toxic work environments can stem from many factors. It could be a boss from hell or any other senior staff that holds a position of authority constantly talking down on other workers. Perhaps the company belittles the efforts that employees make and discard them as useless.

Other times, there may be tattle-tales in the office that spread false news about other employees forcing the victims to quit and leave. An overly rigid and strict environment with everyone looking to be invisible can also pass as a toxic work culture.

Any of these tell-tale signs of toxic culture can result in employees leaving the company.

2. Feeling unengaged or unproductive

Workers like to feel that they have some value to add to the company. Leaving them idle and unengaged allows them to think that they have no value to offer; thus, they begin to look elsewhere for where their input can be regarded.

Being engaged also helps them to look forward to growth and progression within the company. If this is absent, they start to feel stagnant and trapped. This forces them to look to other companies to help them move forward in their career and improve their income and ranks.

3. Feeling unrecognized for their work

Some companies have no rewards or recognition programs that can help their staff feel appreciated. Not only that, they do not offer feedback on the work progress of workers.

This way, they cannot tell if the employer is impressed with the work done or there is room for improvement. Without feedback or recognition, employees cannot effectively judge their abilities or whether they are excelling in their occupation.

4. Feelings of exhaustion and overwork

Some companies put a lot of pressure on their staff with little regard for their mental or bodily health care and how the job demands affect them. All some employers care about is that they deliver results, even at the detriment of their health.

When your workers continuously feel exhausted and overworked, the tendency to quit increases, regardless of pay.

5. Having little or no say in the company’s decision-making

One of the ways through which the working staff find relevancy in the company is to be included in the decision-making process of the company. Simply springing up new policies, rules, and guidelines may cause them to pull back or feel excluded.

Make your employees your no. 1 brand ambassadors with sumHR, the all in one HR Sofware from recruitment to exit

Here’s a guide on HR Software and a guide on Payroll to help you get started.

Additionally, here are top 30 HR Software & Top 20 Payroll software to choose from.

10 helpful tips to improve your employee retention

5 helpful tips to improve your employee retention

1. Know your team

You should know your team and your team should know you well. This is what team-building meetings are for and should be encouraged. Understanding and connecting with your staff members help them feel known and build trust between employer and employee.

With a trusting atmosphere in place, team cordiality becomes stronger, and employees feel a sense of belonging in the organization. This way, they’ll never want to leave as they feel one with the team and the bosses.

2. Keep them abreast with the progress of the company

Carry your workers along as the company progresses. Let them know how far the company has come and the next course of the plan for the business. You can learn how to make an infographic to present the company’s progress in easy-to-understand visuals and texts.

Provide avenues for workers to brainstorm and profer innovative solutions or new ideas for kickoff. Give them a say in the company affairs by bringing their thoughts and ideas via feedback, surveys, round-table discussions, and more.  

3. Create a rewards and recognition program

A sincere email, employee of the month poster, a day off, a gift card, simple rewards, and recognitions such as these may be the stroke of luck that helps you keep your workers close to the heart of the business.

They put in the work, and so they deserve the reward. Create perks, rewards, or recognition scheme that praises and appreciates deserving employee members when they perform outstandingly or beyond expectations.

Workers that feel honoured and appreciated by the company last longer than those that don’t.

Proper employee recognition is actually a very big deal. Research from OC Tanner Learning Group found that 79 per cent of the employees leave their jobs because of ” lack of appreciation ” as their main reason. 

4. Encourage open communication

Some toxic work cultures do not observe any clear communication practices. This leads to many mixups, misleading information, unclear information, erroneous assumptions, strife among employees, grudges, and many other poor communication challenges.

Encourage openness and provide clear communication pathways for workers to air their opinions and pass accurate information to other team members. Slack provides channels of communication that encourage members to discuss and collaborate on projects on the go in real-time.

An open work environment encourages them to get comfortable sharing feedback and concerns that can improve their work experiences, which keeps them loyal to your company.

5. Hire the right people

Apart from investing time and resources in searching for hires with the right skills and qualifications, you must also consider hiring for the right work environment.

Hiring uptight and strict individuals in a company with an open and relaxed work setting isn’t a good fit, even if they have the perfect qualifications.

Not only will they not feel comfortable, but they may also make other workers uncomfortable. To avoid hiring staff that will not last weeks, ensure your hires make the right fit for work and people skills.

5 helpful tips to improve your employee retention (2)

6. Train your workforce

Professional development is key for workers in the organization. It is important that your workforce grows along with the organization.

If an employee finds growth opportunities in the company they are working for, the chances of retention automatically increase. Every individual looks for opportunities for growth and if they do not find it in one place they hunt it elsewhere.

Giving the training your workers need is crucial to your company. A proper training session for each worker with professional development opportunities should be a common practice in your company.

7. Offering compensation and benefits

You can do everything else properly but if you do not have a proper agenda to offer compensations and benefits to your employees, you will be on the losing side.

If your employees feel like they are not being compensated fairly, both in terms of annual salary and benefits package, chances are they will seek them elsewhere.

Do your research. See the kind of compensation and benefits your competitors are providing to the top candidates and how at par are you in these terms.

According to LinkedIn Global Talent Trends, companies that were rated highly on both compensation and benefits 56 per cent lower attrition.

8. Set clear expectations

No one wants to feel unsure about their role in a team. What are their responsibilities? What are they supposed to do? Who are they supposed to report to? Clear expectations can go a long way for your company.

According to the 2018 Employee Retention Report from TinyPulse, employees are 23 percent more likely to stay if their managers clearly explain their roles and responsibilities.

This includes writing detailed job descriptions, having weekly team meetings, explaining their roles and responsibilities, and then addressing their queries so that you both are on the same page.

9. A non-negotiable work-life balance

Employee burnout is a huge problem in today’s 24/7 work culture. According to the Employee Burnout Crisis Report, 95 per cent of HR leaders are saying the retention rate is low because of employee burnout.

Encourage them ta take a break from their screen and put their minds elsewhere in a day for a short period of time. Respect their personal time and avoid sending emails during that time unless it’s an absolute emergency.

Make sure they have a flexible working arrangement and shift their tasks if it gets too overwhelming for them.

10. Ask for feedback

A key indicator to see if the employees happy is to get regular and positive feedback from them. It doesn’t matter what things you already do for your workers. There are always some aspects that you can work on and improve.

If your aim is to increase the retention rate, you need to know what those are.

And the best way to know what your employee needs? Ask them.

This process of reflection and improvement starts with building trust. It should become a common practice in your company to take feedback from your workers and work on the shortcomings.

Conclusion

Improving the retention practices means you’re grooming your workers to become loyal to you and your business for as long as possible. We have highlighted the common reasons why employees may call it quits with your company in a short while of working with you.

To change this narrative, stick to our helpful tips to improve your employee retention rates and turn them from regular employees to your no. 1 brand ambassadors.

Additionally if you’re looking for a way automate your HR process, break up with spreadsheets and hop on board with sumHR, an HRMS which focuses on attendance managementpayroll software360 performance review and much more. Get your free demo here or start your 7 day free trial.

If you have any questions drop it down in the comment section below and ill be sure to answer it.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (F.A.Qs)

1. What are some questions I can ask the workers to get a high retention rate?

Some questions you can ask your work staff to get a high rate of retention are:

– Do you agree with the mission of this organization?
– Are the amount of work and the pace of work reasonable?
– Do you feel the information is shared and communication is encouraged within your team?
– Do you receive the training you need to perform well?
– Do you have proper opportunities for professional growth and development?

2. Which is more important? Employee recruitment or retention?

Both employee recruitment and retention are important for the growth and success of the organization. However, there is no point in recruiting new members if you cannot keep the current ones onboard.

Your aim should be to keep a balance between the two. In many cases, retention is more important as it is cost-effective and much more beneficial than trying to recruit new candidates. That is because wasting your resources on employees that won’t stay for the long haul in your company will just cause an overall loss for your company.

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<small style="font-weight:400;font-size:16px;">Written by</small><br>Team sumHR
Written by
Team sumHR

SumHR is a flexible and configurable end-to-end HR Software/HRMS which help HR teams automate the HR Processes, and improve the employee's HR experience.

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