Having an employee retention strategy has become increasingly important in recent years. With more workplace opportunities available to employees, it’s very much gone from being an employer’s market to an employee’s market.
From the implementation of adequate childcare plans to the embracing of remote working, employers today need to be on the ball in order to keep their employees happy, healthy and on board.
With that in mind, this comprehensive guide will explain how to build an unbeatable employee retention strategy to help keep your employees (and therefore you as an employer) as content as possible in their current workplace position.
What are the causes of employee turnover?
First, though, it’s important to understand the factors that contribute to a high employee turnover rate. The following are all areas that can lead to many employees regularly entering and exiting your company:
- Poor company culture. One of the leading causes of employee turnover is unquestionably a poor workplace culture. This can range from the more extreme (though sadly not uncommon) end of the spectrum, wherein a culture of bullying, sexism, homophobia, or racism may be present, through to the less severe (but still often unpleasant) cultures; the presence of cliques, an expectation to work beyond your job description, or a distinct lack of communication.
- Inadequate pay. Remuneration is unsurprisingly another one of the leading causes of employee turnover. Put simply, if an employee sees a similar opportunity that’s offering better pay elsewhere, then the chances are they’ll look to make a move.
This is one of those areas where it can be hard to improve upon; after all, if the money isn’t there to offer a pay rise, then it’s not there. But often, re-jigging finances to enable the provision of pay rises pays off in the long run as there’s a smaller turnover rate; given how resource-intensive recruiting and onboarding is. A small increase in pay can make a big difference.
- Lack of workplace benefits. Today’s most successful workplaces also offer their employees a whole range of benefits extraneous to any financial bonuses that might already have been on offer. These include childcare plans, gym memberships, free parking, and the financing of training and development opportunities, to name just a few. If your workplace isn’t offering these, then this might be why your employees aren’t sticking around for the longer term.
- No scope for progression. Most people, when they enter a job, want to know that there’s room for professional development up and through the company. If you start as a junior copywriter, for instance, then you’ll likely want to know that there’s an editor role with your name on it should you stick around long enough (and work to a high standard, of course).
If an employee has been working in the same role for years and there doesn’t seem to be any prospect of progression anytime soon, then looking elsewhere becomes something of an inevitability.
Developing an employee retention strategy (5 steps)
So, how do you develop an effective employee retention strategy? Well, the answer isn’t as complex or as difficult as you might think and can be broken down into five key steps.
Step 1: Identify problem areas
The first part of developing any employee retention strategy is to understand where current problems lie. Is the issue the culture? Or is it the lack of benefits? Perhaps it’s both. If it is, then a more comprehensive overhaul might be needed.
Step 2: Acknowledge your employees’ concerns
Often, the misgivings of employees are whispered and talked about to other colleagues in hush tones, which in turn can breed an even more toxic workplace atmosphere. By publicly acknowledging those grievances, be that in a company-wide email or, better still, in a public address to your employees, you show them that you’re taking their concerns seriously.
Step 3: Any change is better than no change
Now, this is an important one. If the main issue amongst employees (and the one that seems to be leading to high turnover rates) is that of pay, but you’re genuinely unable to implement wholesale pay rises, then still doing something is important. That way, you convey to your workforce that, whilst you’re unable to give them what they want in the immediate term, these issues are still being worked upon, and will continue to be so.
Step 4: Decide whether the problems can be dealt with in-house…
Sometimes, it only takes a couple of small changes to drastically improve your retention rate – the provision of courses for employees to upskill, for instance. In these cases, perfect! Job done. Sometimes, however, the problems are so ingrained within your workplace that the best course of action is to bring in an external consultant.
Step 5: Or by using an HR consultant
Employers can’t always see objectively when it comes to how their workplaces operate, and any problems that might lie within. By bringing in an experienced HR consultant, they’ll be able to both identify areas that need to be addressed, as well as how to do so. This, in turn, will improve your company’s employee retention rate.
How does professional development support staff retention?
Professional development supports staff retention in a couple of key ways. Firstly, it makes your staff members feel valued, reaffirming to them that you as an employer see them as important enough to the company to warrant further development.
Secondly, a more skilled workforce is likely to lead to a more successful company. Success begets greater success, and your employees are more likely to be satisfied in a firm that’s thriving than one that’s stagnating and going through the motions. Check out our full range of courses your employees could benefit from, here.
Hopefully, having read this, you can see the importance of a solid employee retention strategy.
If you want to find out more about any of our courses, which range from several weeks in length to those that can be completed for free in a day, find your next course here.
