For your company to succeed, it is not only essential to hire top talents, but you also have to retain them! Hiring the best candidates to fill a position means nothing if they do not stay long enough to grow and develop the company and themselves.
If your goal is employee retention, you must have the best employee retention strategies in your toolbox. However, despite the aim, many companies these days struggle to achieve notable progress or results.
Unfortunately, the rise in employee resignations is still far from over. Data shows that in 2021 alone, 43 million workers resigned from their positions!
That’s just a lot!
With good intentions, we wrote this article particularly to help you! It will try to shed light on the causes of employee turnover and the best strategies for employee retention.
Significant Causes of Employee Turnover
Employee retention strategies can only be successful once we understand the factors that cause employee turnover. Below are the most significant causes of employee turnover.
1. Excessive Workload
While it’s normal for workers to experience high-stress levels occasionally, it becomes overwhelming if this happens frequently. The talk here is about giving them too many demanding assignments to employees every single day, or even worse… homework! Nobody likes that!
The economic recession, again, may make increasing the workload inevitable… However, rest assured, an excessive workload will eventually lead to burnout, then lower productivity.
2. Poor Remuneration
It’s a natural reaction for employees who feel they are not paid their entire worth to start hunting for better opportunities elsewhere.
They’ll look for better opportunities where the pay raise is a substantial culture. Employees, too, have their financial goals! And we should respect them.
3. Rigid Work Schedules
Gone are the days when working 9-5 was the norm. These days, with the internet and WW3 technologies, it is possible for people to work remotely from the comfort of their homes.
However, each organization will set its work schedules and decide how much flexibility its employees would have. A good work-life balance is a trend for employees these days!
Luckily, and as we stated earlier, technology prevents this from becoming a problem. A study by Stanford University found that remote work increases productivity by up to 13%!
4. Excessive Micromanagement
Is your company guilty of excessive micromanagement? In that case, your employees will conclude that they cannot complete tasks successfully by themselves.
Rather than encouraging creativity, micromanagement stifles it! Employees who are restricted and excessively controlled often leave because they are unhappy with their lack of autonomy.
5. The Failure to Hire Competent Employees
Searching for qualified candidates to fill open positions can be time-consuming and difficult. However, you shouldn't hire someone who doesn’t meet the company’s culture and values.
You have to optimize your recruitment process to hire the right people. A very relevant reminder: never rush to fill an open position… you may end up re-doing everything and wasting both time and money!
Stratégies de rétention des employés
Now that you know some of the causes of employee turnover, below you’ll find some strategies to improve employee retention!
1. Frequently Provide Feedback and Recognition
A great way to boost morale in the office is to make your employees feel appreciated. Employees who receive consistent feedback and recognition for their performance are more invested in their jobs and stay there longer.
Still, not all companies seem to bond by this fact! Don’t be one of them and consistently provide constructive criticism and acknowledge all forms of contributions.
To do so, you have to put a premium on public praise and financial incentives. Technology can help with that through employee recognition platforms.
You can also hold regular meetings with your employees as an avenue to give feedback and recognition. Frequent meetings between managers and employees replace the yearly performance evaluation.
In these meetings, you can engage your employees in conversations about their future with the company and even their professional goals.
Although you shouldn't make any promises, discussing potential promotions is beneficial! You can also go personal with enthusiastic employees and help them set and pursue achievable goals.
2. Give Room for Grows and Skills Development
Adapting to a changing world is indispensable. In other words, in light of technological advancements, employees frequently need to grow and develop their skills!
However, many people are concerned that there aren't enough prospects for advancement inside their existing organizations. Consequently, they start to explore opportunities elsewhere rather than within the company.
Combat this issue by giving your employees room to grow and develop their skills. Prioritize investing in your staff by funding their continued education and development.
Permit them to use company time to attend online seminars and pay for or reimburse any reasonable education costs.
Continuous performance feedback also helps draw attention to employees' development needs.
3. Allow Remote or Hybrid Work
Workplaces that combine traditional office hours with working remotely are becoming increasingly common.
Even though some jobs cannot be performed remotely, progressive businesses are working to find a way to give employees a choice.
When your employees work remotely, you can promote teamwork without imposing too much structure by requiring regular in-office meetings. You can also use collaborative software like Zoom and Asana to host virtual meetings and promote teamwork.
4. Grant Access to Effective Tools
Employees who are stressed out may find it frustrating to deal with a malfunctioning computer or outdated software.
You should collaborate with your employees to spot useful tools and resources. It's also essential to give remote employees the same resources as office employees.
5. Establish a Healthy Work-Life Balance
Maintaining a healthy work-life balance matters for so many reasons. Not only does it prevent burnout, but it also helps employees remain healthier and more productive. In other words, allowing your staff to strike a good balance makes them less likely to leave your organization!
Several strategies, such as remote work, can help improve the work-life balance.
Nevertheless, managers should regularly assess their staff's workloads and frequently communicate with them to prevent anyone from taking on too much. Furthermore, businesses can reduce stress by cutting back on time-consuming meetings and paperwork.
When workloads become unmanageable, companies must weigh the cost of adding new workers against the possibility of losing current staff members!
6. Conduct Frequent Pay Rate Reviews
Competitive pay is crucial to keep employees in today's cutthroat business climate. Even if you praise your workers, workers who believe they are underpaid are more inclined to consider other employment options.
Companies with transparent pay policies and frequent salary discussions have a better chance of attracting and retaining skilled workers.
It is critical to regularly review market compensation norms and develop a plan to reward great-performing employees monetarily. Employees' morale can be significantly improved by monetary incentives like bonuses and salary increases!
7. Provide Excellent Onboarding and Orientation Experiences
You should give your new employees a great onboarding and orientation experience if you want them to thrive in their new positions. It is essential to do more than simply outline your new hire’s responsibilities during the onboarding phase. You should educate them about the company’s values and work culture.
On the other hand, remember that it's best not to overwhelm them with all the details. Give them the information slowly so it remains digestible.
Remember that a new hire may not immediately become as productive as old employees. However, making a good impression early on can significantly impact employee retention.
You can also help the new hire settle in by setting them up with a mentor or introducing them to other team members.
Final Thoughts
Do not underestimate the power of employee retention. It does not matter if you hire the right people, it’s always challenging to retain them. If employee turnover is something you struggle with, the strategies above will hopefully help you to improve employee retention.