Employees retention strategies

As employer and employees, we come together and work in unison to achieve a common goal. This is called as organisation. An organisation can’t survive if the employees are not serious about it and are more concerned about their personal interests.

?? Employee retention refers to the various policies and practices which let the employees stick to an organisation for a longer period of time.

?? Research says that most of the employees leave an organisation out of frustration and constant friction with their superiors or other team members. In some cases low salary, lack of growth prospects and motivation compel an employee to look for a change.

It is the responsibility of the line managers as well as the management to ensure that the employees are satisfied with their roles and responsibilities and the job is offering them a new challenge and learning every day.

Employee retention techniques go a long way in motivating the employees for them to enjoy their work and avoid changing jobs frequently.

?? Let us understand why retaining a valuable employee is essential for an organisation.

• Hiring is not an easy process - recruiting the right candidate is a time consuming process.
• An organisation invests time and money in grooming an individual and make him ready to work and understand the corporate culture
• When an individual resigns from his present organisation, it is more likely that he would join the competitors
• The employees working for a longer period of time are more familiar with the company’s policies, guidelines and thus they adjust better
• Every individual needs time to adjust with others
• It has been observed that individuals sticking to an organisation for a longer span are more loyal towards the management and the organisation
• It is essential for the organisation to retain the valuable employees showing potential

The management must understand the difference between a valuable employee and an employee who doesn’t contribute much to the organisation. Sincere efforts must be made to encourage the employees so that they stay happy in the current organisation and do not look for a change.

?? Let us go through some strategies to retain an individual:

?? An employee looks for a change when his job becomes monotonous and does not offer anything new. It is essential for everyone to enjoy whatever he does. The responsibilities must be delegated according to the individual’s specialisation and interests. It is the responsibility of the team leader to assign challenging work to his team members for them to enjoy work and do not treat it as a burden. Performance reviews are important to find out whether the employees are really happy with their work or not.

?? Constant disputes among employees encourage them to go for a change. Conflicts must be avoided to maintain the decorum of the place and avoid spreading negativity around. Promote activities which bring the employees closer.

?? The human resource department must ensure that it is hiring the right candidate. For example, an individual who has changed his previous jobs frequently would also not stick to the present one and thus should not be hired.

?? Employee recognition is one of the most important factors which go a long way in retaining employees. Nothing works better than appreciating the employees. Their hard work must be acknowledged. The performers must have an upper edge and should get a special treatment from the management.

?? Performance appraisals are also important for an employee to stay motivated and avoid looking for a change.

?? The salary of the employees must be discussed at the time of the interview. The components of the salary must be transparent and thoroughly discussed with the individuals at the time of joining to avoid confusions later. The individuals should be made to join only when the salary as well as other terms and conditions are acceptable to them.

?? The company’s rules and regulations should be made to benefit the employees. They should be employee friendly. For example, allow them to take a leave on their birthdays or come a little late once or twice in a month. It is important for the management to understand the employees to gain their trust and confidence. The consistent performers must also have a say in the company’s decisions for them to feel important.

? Motivation plays an important role in employee satisfaction and eventually employee retention.

?? Nothing works better than motivation. Motivation acts as a catalyst to an individual’s success. The team leaders and the managers must constantly motivate the employees to extract the best out of them. If an employee has performed exceptionally well, do appreciate him.

Simple words like “Well done”,“Bravo”,“Good”,“Keep it up” actually go a long way in motivating the employees. The employees must feel indispensable for the organisation. It is essential for the employees to be loyal towards their organisation to deliver their level best.

?? Ownership of work only comes through motivation.

?? The superiors should send motivational emails to their team once in a week. Display inspirational posters, photographs on the notice board for the employees to read and stay motivated.

It is natural for an individual to feel low sometimes, but the superiors must ensure to boost their morale and bring them back on track. No individual should be neglected or criticised. This demotivates them. If they fail to perform once, motivate them and give them another opportunity.

?? Organise various activities and events at the workplace.

Ask each one to take charge of something or the other. Engage the employees in productive tasks necessary for their overall development. The management must show its care and concern for all the staff members. The employees must feel secure at the workplace for them to stay motivated.

?? Incentives, perks, cash prizes are a good way to motivate the employees. - The employees who have performed well consistently should be felicitated in front of all the staff members as well as the management. Give them trophies or badges to flaunt. Ask the audience to give a loud applause to the employees who have performed well. This is a good way to motivate the employees for them to remain happy and work with dedication for a longer duration. Others who have not performed up to the mark also gear up for future. The names of the top performers must be put on the company’s main notice board or bulletin board for everyone to see.

?? Appraisals are also an important way to motivate the employees. - The salaries of the performers must be appraised at regular intervals - an effective way to retain the employees. Career growth is an important way to retain the talented employees. Give them power to take some decisions on their own but the management must have a close watch on them so that they do not misuse their power.

? The Human Resource team plays an important role in employee retention. The HR professional must try his level best to motivate the employees, make them feel special in the organisation so that they do not look for a change. Let’s see some tips:

?? Whenever an employee resigns from his current assignments, it is the responsibility of the HR to intervene immediately to find out the reasons which prompted the employee to resign. No one leaves an organisation without a reason. There has to be one and the human resource team must probe into it.

?? It is the duty of the HR to sit with the employee and discuss the various issues face to face. Understand his problems and listen to his side of the story as well. Remember the HR should not focus on conducting exit interviews, rather more emphasis should be laid on retaining the employees.

?? The HR person must ensure that he is recruiting the right employee who actually fits into the role. A right person doing the wrong job would never find his job interesting and certainly look for a change. Make sure every individual has been assigned responsibilities according to his specialisation and interest.

?? The human resource department must conduct motivational activities at the workplace. Perform various internal as well as external trainings which help the employees to learn something extra apart from their routine work.

?? The HR must launch various incentive schemes for the top performers to motivate them. This way the employees feel important for the organisation and strive hard to perform even better the next time. The employees who show promise should be awarded with cash prizes, lucrative perks and certificates to make the individual stand apart from the crowd.

?? Performance reviews are a must. The HR along with the respective team leaders must monitor their team member’s performance to ensure whether they are enjoying the work or not. The employees look for a change only when their job becomes monotonous and does not offer any growth or learning. Job rotation can be one of the effective ways to retain employees.

? The team leaders and the supervisors play an important role in employee retention

?? The team members must be assigned responsibilities as per their specialisation, qualification, interests as well as experience. The team members must find their job interesting for them to enjoy and work hard to achieve the organisation goals. The KRAs must be formulated in the presence of the employees. Let them decide what best they can perform. Let them accept the responsibilities willingly.

?? An over burdened worker never finds his job interesting and would always be eager for a change. It is the duty of the team leader to distribute the work equally among all the employees. The manager should not be partial to anyone and treat all his members as one. He should not let negativity creep in the team.

?? Rules and regulations should be same for everyone. Avoid granting special favours to anyone.

?? One should never fear his boss. A team leader should be a role model for his team. The team managers should not be arrogant and avoid misuse of their position. He should let all the team members participate in the decision making process. Every employee should have the freedom of expression and no one should be left out or neglected. The team leader should trust and respect his team members to expect the same from them.

?? The team leader should be accessible to his team members. Employees feel demotivated when their queries remain unsolved and there is nobody to listen to them. When the team leader doesn’t have time for his team, the employees crib among themselves and wish to move on. The team leader must make sure to be with his team whenever required. He should support his team members always. Listen to their problems and try to provide a solution. Make them feel that you are there for them.

?? The superiors must maintain transparency in communication.

?? The team leader must appreciate those who perform well.

?? A team leader should mentor his team well.

? Employee engagement role in employee retention

Employee engagement refers to a situation where all the employees are engaged in their own work and take keen interest in the organisation’s activities.

?? An engaged employee is one who is focussed, enjoys his work and learns something new each day.

?? An engaged employee is satisfied with his work and would never think of quitting his job.

?? He is the one who willingly accepts responsibilities and looks forward towards a long term association with the organisation.

?? An employee delivers his hundred percent when he does something which interests him.

?? An engaged employee always stays motivated in his current assignments and does not look for opportunities outside.

?? An employee must be asked to do something innovative every time.

?? An individual engaged in his work strives hard to deliver his level best and live up to the expectations of the management every time.

?? An employee who is busy with his work stays away from nasty politics, backstabbing and thus maintain the decorum of the office. He prioritises his work and does not really get time for controversies.

?? An engaged employee does not get time to participate in unproductive tasks instead finishes his assignments on time and benefits the organisation.

? Let us understand the challenges to employee retention:

?? Monetary dissatisfaction is one of the major reasons for an employee to look for a change. Retention becomes a problem when an employee quotes an exceptionally high figure beyond the budget of the organisation and is just not willing to compromise.

?? In the current scenario, where there is no dearth of opportunities, stopping people to look for a change is a big challenge.

?? Individuals speak all kind of lies during interviews to get a job. They might not be proficient in branding but would simply say a yes to impress the recruiter and grab the job. It is only later do people realize that there has been a mismatch and thus look for a change. Problems arise whenever a right person is into a wrong profile. An individual loses interest in work whenever he does something out of compulsion. The human resource department should be very careful while recruiting new employees. It is really important to get the reference check done for better reliability and avoid confusions later.

?? Some individuals have a tendency to get bored in a short span of time. They might find a job really interesting in the beginning but soon find it monotonous and look for a change. The management finds it difficult to convince the employees in such cases.

?? Unrealistic expectations from the job also lead to employees looking for a change. There is actually no solution to unrealistic expectations. An individual must be mature enough to understand that one can’t get all the comforts at the workplace just like his home. Individuals from different backgrounds come together in an organisation and minor misunderstandings might arise but one should not make an issue out of it.

? How to Retain the Best Employee – recap tips:

?? Work should never become monotonous and must offer a new learning each day.

?? Every individual should enjoy privacy at the workplace.

?? The seniors must be reachable to their subordinates in case of queries.

?? Every employee should be treated as one irrespective of his designation.

?? The management must formulate employee friendly policies.

?? Incentives, cash prizes, trophies, perks should be given to deserving employees to motivate them to perform up to the mark every time.

?? The performers must be made to participate in the decision making process.

?? Discipline is a must at the workplace.

?? An organisation must have a simple hierarchy and the functional areas of each team should be well defined.

?? Freedom of expression is of utmost importance at the workplace to retain employees.

?? An organisation must offer a positive ambience to its employees to expect a consistent performance from them.

QUESTION:

???Did you know there is an indicator very useful for an organisation to be monitored about retention? It is so called EMPLOYEE RETENTION RATE. Employee retention rate (RR) is a helpful statistic for an employer to calculate – both as a benchmark and as a periodic exercise to see where you stand (typically quarterly or biannually).

?? The formula is simple: divide the number of employees at the beginning of a period by the total number of employees at the end of a period to get the percentage. Positions added during the year would not be counted.

??????WHAT IS THE RETENTION RATE IN YOUR COMPANY?