To understand the secrets behind employee retention, you have to figure out what will get your employees excited to come to work in the morning.
It could be anything from friendships with coworkers, the abundance of snacks and coffee in the communal kitchen or great perks such as an annual bonus strategy or a flexible work from home policy. These small things are all very important aspects of your organizations employee retention strategy, because there is no one thing that will keep your best employees for years to come.
In helping our clients develop a formal employee retention plan, Fusion Career Services asserts that it should be built on these guiding principles:
1. Have Strong Leaders and Managers
It doesn’t matter how many perks your organization has, in order for your employees to stay successful, they’re going to need strong leaders. A strong leader will not only motivate their employees but will also encourage their growth and cultivate loyalty.
2. Illustrate Growth Potential
Never stop offering your employees the opportunity to grow. It’s not enough to simply have a great employee culture and perks, they want the chance to move up – so give it to them. This is especially true when hiring recent grads. They may start a new role full of excitement, but don’t expect them to stay after a few years if a clear career path has not been developed for them.
3. Always Acknowledge Achievements
Outside of monetary rewards, employees want to be recognized for their work. In recent years, the existence of rewards programs for employees has become very popular and is something that many people are looking for when considering new employment options. The amount of effort put into a program like this does not have to be large, but the constant recognition ensures that employees feel appreciated and helps to promote loyalty.
4. Hire Well
This may seem like an obvious recommendation, but it bears repeating over and over again that employee retention starts with hiring. The consequences of a bad hire can have a negative ripple effect across the organization and could cause some of your best employees to leave. It is also a waste of valuable resources that could be used to train an employee that has long term growth potential at your company or someone who could be a valuable part of succession planning.
5. Give your Employees a Voice
Listening to your employees and what they have to say can help to strengthen employee relations and encourages a better, more respected work environment. A company’s executives should not be the only ones leading and a part of the conversation. Involving the rest of the organization will result in more buy-in and more ideas. These types of conversations can happen during a formal review period or informally during weekly team meetings.
Truly, there is no real secret to retaining your employees. The best approach to take is to always consider what you can do to keep your best people and then make it a priority. Putting some thought into whether your employees are happy and how you can facilitate even more job satisfaction will always be time well spent in retaining the best employees.
