RODI: Staff Retention

There are many reasons employees leave a secure position for another company or even for no job. If your business possesses a high employee turnover and low retention rate, then one of these may be the cause:

• Lack of credibility
• Disrespect
• Onboarding and instruction
• Micromanagement
• Lack of ethics or integrity
• Work-life imbalance
• Unhealthy work environment
• Unmet career goals

If your workforce is leaving at a high rate, senior management must hire replacements. This is known as employee attrition. To stop employee attrition and increase workplace retention, you can work backwards from these issues and come up with ways to keep your employees happy in the workplace.

Here are ways you can improve employee retention while also increasing employee satisfaction overall.

1.  Be upfront during the interview

Employee retention strategies must start even before an employee is hired. One way to increase this rate of retention is by hiring the right people for the job in the first place. When conducting the recruitment process, you will want to look for candidates that click with your work culture and current team.

During the interviews, you should be upfront with the candidates, giving them a full description of their job duties, expectations and the business’s work environment. The more you can prepare the applicants for the position, the more likely they will thrive in the organization when hired. However, if you choose the wrong candidate, you could wind up back in the hiring process before long.

2.  Proper onboarding of new team members

The right instruction and proper onboarding can make all the difference in how well employees adjust to a new position. Even though the new hire passed the interview stages, this will be the first time they experience the company as an employee. It’s within the first six months of employment that many new hires tend to leave.

If you don’t help your new workers get off to a good start, how can you expect them to stay within a company when they don’t feel supported? By developing an integrated onboarding strategy and designing your firm’s employee training program with the staff in mind, your new employees will feel welcomed, supported, and excited to learn and work within the business.

The better the first few weeks and months go, the more likely the new hire will stay. Therefore, making a strong first work impression with on-the-job training opportunities is necessary to increase employee retention.

3.  Employee compensation packages and health benefits

Another way to keep employees happy is through the use of compensation plans and benefits packages. By providing your workforce with health insurance coverage and other benefit packages like retirement plans, you can illustrate your business’s focus on health and wellness. Such a focus helps to attract and retain employees as they gain more out of their work than just a place of employment.

4.  Mentorship opportunities and further learning

Offering an outlet for further learning and career development opportunities is a great way to keep workers engaged and lower the rate of your turnover. When individuals feel there is a chance for professional development and progression within the company, they will inevitably stay there to make it happen, taking advantage of a place where they can grow and learn.

Starting a mentorship program in your business, providing advancement opportunities, or offering tuition reimbursement programs, are a few ways you can show your workforce that you care about their development.

5.  Communication

Communication is key to building a healthy and strong work relationship between management and all team members. Poor communication can cause all sorts of issues between management and employees such as failure to relay clear instructions causing frustration, which results in lost productivity and revenue, and lack of appreciation and credit.

Whether issuing what is needed for a task, giving credit when credit is due or showing appreciation for employees, managers must communicate with employees. Fostering communication and a positive work environment keep employees satisfied and content within a company when they see they are valued and appreciated for their hard work.

Starting a mentorship program in your business, providing advancement opportunities, or offering tuition reimbursement programs, are a few ways you can show your workforce that you care about their development.

7. Respect both ways

Since poor people management and lack of respect are leading factors in a company’s turnover rate, businesses should focus on building respect and trust between all team members. Companies must always remember their employees’ human element- people deserve respect and fairness in all aspects of their work environment.

By building a positive and fair work environment, you are more likely to attract and retain hard-working employees as they feel recognized and appreciated within the business. Therefore, to increase employee retention, your business must show respect to its workforce in all aspects and between all workers, no matter the internal hierarchy.

8. Performance reviews

Performance management reviews help both employees and employers, as they create a metric by which to measure progress. Periodic performance reviews help employees to cover the gaps in their skills and work performance. By measuring where the employees sit within the company, they understand your position better and what it takes to move up within the company or desired field.

This knowledge and clear progression path and growth within a company can inspire your workforce to continue to work hard within the company. If your workforce sees opportunities where they are, they will be less likely to seek them out at another organization.

9. Fostering cohesive unit

Being part of a team and a larger community makes people feel good about what they do and can result in higher employee job satisfaction overall. Many individuals come into a new job for the experience but tend to stay for the people they work with. Fostering a cohesive unit and strong working relationship between all members means creating an environment where people feel accepted and supported.

Team-building activities are a great way to create this foundation of support and trust among the whole workforce. Cultivating these relationships inspires employees to work together and stay within the company.

10.  Great design will help retain staff

People who work for you need to be comfortable. Staff need the right furniture, the right tools and the right environment to do their best work.

Involve employees on office furnishing decisions (and even design). Allow them to customize their individual workstations and provide input on group areas. If you are considering a move or redesign, get feedback and involve employees early in the process of shaping your new space.

Make a commitment to continually improve your existing space. Even if the updates are purely cosmetic, people who choose or vote on details like paint color and carpet style will be infinitely more invested in your company than those who are expected to live with whatever is decided by leadership.

How can you add more comfort through design? 

• Add color or artwork to empty walls. Different colors affect mood and energy levels. Artwork adds personality to otherwise neutral spaces.
• Add plants. Greenery is a natural stress reliever and provides measurable health benefits including noise reduction and cleaner air.
• Add texture. Break up the monotony of traditional work surfaces with the introduction of natural stone, fabric wall coverings or rustic wood flooring.
• Upgrade your bathroom experience. Making these spaces more comfortable can be as easy as adding personal lockers, complimentary toiletries or even a relaxing soundtrack.
• Upgrade your food and beverages. Perks like premium coffee and tea service or free snacks keep employees motivated (an on-site) throughout the day.

Every one of these ideas becomes infinitely more effective if you include employees in the decision-making and design process.

Respect both ways

Since poor people management and lack of respect are leading factors in a company’s turnover rate, businesses should focus on building respect and trust between all team members. Companies must always remember their employees’ human element- people deserve respect and fairness in all aspects of their work environment.

By building a positive and fair work environment, you are more likely to attract and retain hard-working employees as they feel recognized and appreciated within the business. Therefore, to increase employee retention, your business must show respect to its workforce in all aspects and between all workers, no matter the internal hierarchy.