Employee Retention Strategies that Work

With millions of new jobs being created every year without enough qualified candidates to match, the talent market is tight. The market leans heavily in favor of candidates who can now choose where they want to work and even the way they want to work. In such a scenario, not just recruiting but even retaining talent is a concern for organizations. Employees leave an organization for varied reasons and often companies don’t find out the reason until the exit interview. But by then, it is too late. They don’t just lose a productive member of the organization but also an opportunity to fix issues within their workplace and prevent others from losing. 

When a productive employee leaves the organization, there are increased costs incurred. It isn’t just the cost of a new hire but also loss of productive time decreased productivity and reduced employee engagement. So what can an organization possibly do to save those costs and prevent employees from leaving? Well, there are employee retention strategies that motivate employees to stay on. 

Let’s dig in

Competitive Compensation Packages – A Glassdoor survey revealed that the major reason behind an employee leaving an organization is salary. That’s not to suggest that a pay raise would stop an employee from leaving. There’s more to it than that. When employees cite salary as the reason, what they mean is the entire compensation package which includes base salary, benefits like medical and health insurance, allowances, PF and other perks like maternity/paternity leaves etc. Financial stability is indeed the biggest motivating factor. The first step that the company should take here is to evaluate if their compensation package is at par with the industry average. Also, take into consideration what your close competitors are paying and the kind of benefits they offer. Surveys should help with the data too.

Identify candidates at the time of the Interview – While it is difficult to predict how long an employee would stay at the time of hiring, it is still possible to identify candidates who believe in stability. Their experience on their CV should reveal that. If they’ve been frequently switching jobs, then it’s likely that they would start looking for a better job after gaining some experience in the current company. Look for candidates who’ve had a stable career with at least a few years in an organization. They’re the ones most likely to stay longer if provided with a healthy work environment and growth prospects.

Invest in Learning & Development – Hiring the right people isn’t enough. The real test begins after they are hired. No matter how good the talent, they will leave if not provided with proper opportunity to learn and grow. Employees are a curious lot, eager to learn and grow. Offer them a chance to learn new technologies, train on new techniques and processes. Invest in their professional development and they’ll stay on.

Develop a healthy work culture – We tend to spend a greater amount of time at work than with our families. Therefore, it is important that we feel happy there. Develop a healthy work culture, where people feel valued and cared for. Encourage them to develop strong relations with their colleagues. These friendships play a great role in reducing employee turnover.

Reward and Recognition – Appreciation is something everyone craves for. Recognition has a huge impact on the employee’s minds. Appreciate their hard work and praise when they do something good. It doesn’t take much on the employer’s part. It creates a perception that the employees’ hard work is valued and people are motivated to do better. It doesn’t have to be a gala event with lakhs of expenditure. Just simple gestures like a team lunch after a gruelling quarter or a formal event in the office rewarding extraordinary performances with gifts, performance bonus or a certificate would do too. You can even have pay bonus as part of your compensation. Even simple birthday/anniversary/work anniversary wishes go a long way in boosting their morale.

Allow a healthy Work/Life Balance – Employees aren’t robots. They have their own needs, responsibilities and life. If their work does not allow them to take care of those, naturally they will resent. Don’t let that happen. Be considerate towards their problems and offer support whenever needed. Allow them flexibility at work. For instance, if a family member is sick, allow them to work from home so they can manage both. Identify what the problems are and allow solutions around it. 

Make sure the right people are the Managers – It is no secret that another major reason employees leave is because of a bad boss. It is up to the senior management to make sure that none of the managers plays favourites, pass appropriate remarks, threatening them or even subtle acts like micromanaging, nagging, lack of appreciation etc. can build up frustration in the minds of the employees. They suffer silently for fear of speaking up and in the end, they just leave. Take employee surveys, engage HR personnel to speak to the employees about how they are feeling and encourage them to speak up in case of a problem. 

Money does play a major role in employee retention but there are other ways to make employees stay. If your work culture does not support growth and healthy work-life balance, then sooner or later employees would leave and paying more money wouldn’t help there. What’s more important is to keep eyes and ears open for any problems that employees may be facing and alleviate them. Give them a good professional atmosphere and you’ll have motivated, productive employees. You don’t always need to pay more money; sometimes simply paying more attention to matters might help too.

Hope this helps.

Regards,

Prabha Rajan - CEO & Founder at HR Inc Consultants visit https://www.hrincconsultants.com/jobs.php for current job opennings.