The issue of employee retention is extremely important for businesses and is closely linked to a couple of other rewarding practices. First of all, in order to even get the chance to boost employee retention, you need to be able to recognize the issue.
For many traditional businesses where top brass have near to limitless promotion opportunities while office workers don’t have much say in anything, employee retention is a huge issue. The fact that it’s still going strong speaks volumes about the efficiency of what is now being increasingly recognized as an “old school” way of doing business.
With the emergence of startups and rapid technological advances, the whole system needs to be redefined, showing execs that they need to change their approach or else face serious business blows, but also showing employees that there are other options to pursue their professional goals.
Employee Turnover Costs Are a Huge Issue
Employee retention is extremely important in the context of profit, because new people filling the positions need to be trained properly in order for the business to remain operating successfully. Training costs resources and time and may well prove fruitless in the end if the underlying reasons aren’t being addressed.
Setting unattainable goals is among the major reasons for high employee turnover rates. To ensure that employees are meeting expectations, businesses need to provide proper training and listen to feedback when drafting their strategies.
Higher accountability for leadership can lead to better results in this context. Coupled with agile methodologies and best practices, the approach can transform businesses into pleasant environments in no time.
Keeping Talents
With all these changes going on, a new category of employees, called talents, has emerged.
Startups underline the importance of keeping such people, no matter the cost, but the tricky part is: high salaries are not the main incentive for talent, albeit they are, of course, appreciated. These people are inspired by challenges, which is something they rarely find in traditional, rigid companies.
It is crucial, therefore, to recognize talents and allow them to do their jobs in their own way. Needless to say, losing a single talent is a huge loss for a company, seeing as they inspire others and drive positive change.
Retention Starts From the Interview
Rather than focusing on boosting retention rates after hiring employees, focus on it from day one. To do this, you need to pinpoint and nicely tune the elements your business will be pursuing — from business culture to long-term strategy.
Once you know that, consider only the candidates that fit into the bigger picture. It may sound unfair, but the truth is that not everyone has the ambition to lead, especially if that means working overtime. Many people look for a 9-to-5 job after which they’ll come back to their families and forget about their work until the next working day.
Consistent employee engagement starts from this point on. If you are looking for employees who think outside of the box, don’t hire people who don’t have such ambitions. Only in this way will you be able to boost retention and pursue your business goals. Remember that engagement and productivity increase over time if the expectations of the employees are met, so the only thing you need to do is to recognize people who are aligned with your business strategy.
Offer Promotions
Not everyone chooses the workplace based on the salary alone. Many people look for different incentives, including promotions.
It is only reasonable for employees to expect certain rewards for their dedication, loyalty, and hard work. Promotions are not only about money — they also come with greater responsibilities and challenges, which sends a clear message to the employees that effort is being rewarded.
Various approaches have been reported to be effective in this scenario. Here’s another one you don’t get to hear about too often: implementing an entrepreneurial process.
“A proven process is a set of procedures that brings together all facets of an organization onto the same strategic page,” according to GCE.
Ensure Continual Education
Of course, not everyone is equipped with an equal skill set. That’s why juniors and seniors exist. To ensure that every employee will be given a chance at a promotion, ensure continual education.
This doesn’t mean that everyone should learn everything. Let’s take a look at how startups operate. Because they are set in a fast-paced, ever-changing market, the employees are like a family. Everyone gives their best and everyone brainstorms best solutions. In this way, all employees participate actively and, as a result, feel proud of every success as if it were their own.
This is the kind of education that will help you develop a business culture everyone will fit in, and gladly at that. Allow people to choose their course and develop their careers in the way they want to. Employees should know that their efforts will be recognized and that their voices will be heard and appreciated. That’s the one recipe that never fails to deliver, so keep to it!
