5 Simple Ways to Increase Employee Retention

For businesses to be successful in today’s competitive job market, not only do you have to find the best employees, but you have to retain the best employees.  The cost of employee turnover can cost a company thousands of dollars. It’s best to take an inward look at your company and figure out how you can go about keeping the talent that you have. What does your retention rate look like? What does your employment brand look like? Retaining talented individuals is key to company success and attracting the all-star employees in the future.

Here are five ways to increase your employee retention:

1. Listen to your employees.

   
   

   Don’t ever assume that employees are content with their job. Continue to provide open avenues for your employees to speak up. Don’t only listen to employees in their annual review and exit interview. If the only type of feedback session your employee has is with their manager they might not feel completely comfortable discussing if they are unhappy or if they have interest in learning another side of the business. Offer employees an opportunity to have an additional review and/or feedback session with someone other than their manager, such as the HR department or with another manager to discuss goals, career objectives and what they enjoy or don’t enjoy about their current job.

   
   

2. Acknowledge and reward your employees.

   It may be beneficial to offer personality tests to see what kind of acknowledgment your employees need. You can offer monetary incentives like gift cards, bonuses, promotions, raises, nice gifts, etc. You can also offer treats or a pizza day to a team that has gone above and beyond. Aside from monetary promotions and raises, there are other easy ways to show employee recognition. A “thank you” from the leadership team when recognizing that an employee who has done a good job will go really far. You can offer an “Employee of the Month” parking spot to reward individuals for their hard work. If you have a larger company, you can highlight outstanding employees on your intranet or in your company newsletter. There are a lot of clever and cost-effective ways to reward and acknowledge employees.

   
   

3. Create a positive culture.

   In today’s competitive market for top talent, having a positive culture is not an option. Host team lunches, ice cream parties, volunteer days, or start a company wellness program to create team engagement and bonding. Foster a close-knit culture so that your employees will not want to leave your company. After all, your employees are spending 30 percent of their time at work so they need to have a positive experience when they are in the office.

   
   

4. Offer flexibility in the work schedule.

   Aside from the employees earned paid-time-off, be flexible when an employee has a doctor’s appointment or a family emergency. You can also offer flexible Fridays, birthday holidays or a once a month early/late arrival opportunity. If one of your best employees has a long-commute, you can work with that individual to accommodate a better time for them to come in or leave work.

   
   

5. Communicate with your employees.

   By communicating with your employees on a regular basis, they will feel “in-the-know”. The last thing you want is your employees to feel is as if you are keeping secrets from them or to put any lack of trust in their leadership. With today’s technology, it is easier than ever to communicate what is happening in the company. While you don’t have to give them inside secrets, you can provide simple company updates to make your employees feel knowledgeable. Offer meetings or luncheons where your leadership speaks to your employees, send newsletters or update your company intranet. Either way, communication is key to helping with employee engagement and retention.