9 Employee Retention Strategies For Keeping Your Best Talent

Your employee retention strategy should always be a priority. A staggering 51% of people are considering leaving their jobs this year. And with the new normal of remote work, employees have a wider range of potential employers to evaluate than ever before.

HR leaders need to develop a range of strategies to positively impact employee retention. With open feedback channels, a culture of recognition, and other key techniques, you can boost your retention efforts this year and beyond.

What is employee retention?

Employee retention is an organizational goal of keeping employees in the workforce and preventing turnover. It has a direct impact on the success and sustainability of an organization and includes strategies to best engage employees at work. Employee retention is top of mind for HR leaders and people managers as it involves building an engaged and efficient workplace to strengthen job commitment and loyalty.

Why employee retention matters

Employee retention needs to be top of mind for any company, as the cost of losing top talent is great. The cost to replace an existing employee is three to four times that position’s salary and doesn’t even account for losses in valuable time, knowledge, productivity, or cultural impact. Constant departures of employees also impact motivation, productivity, and performance at work. Before employees quit, they may become less of a team player, do the minimum amount of work, and fail to commit to long-term deadlines.

HR isn’t powerless, though — 42% of employee turnover is preventable. The key is to pinpoint the issues that may be driving employees to leave and address them before it’s too late.

Here are 15 ways to remedy existing retention problems and prevent new retention issues from cropping up in the future.

The best 15 employee retention strategies

1. Build employee engagement

Unfortunately, only one-third of employees say they’re very engaged, and disengaged employees cost the U.S. over $450 billion per year in lost productivity. Failing to give employees a voice brings down engagement.

An engagement platform can help you ask the right questions and reveal how employees truly feel about their role, team, and manager. In place of long annual surveys that aren’t actionable, try pulse surveys, short sets of questions sent on a recurring basis to measure employee engagement in real time. Outside of surveys, HR chatbots are a great way to create an always-on channel for employee feedback.

2. Get recognition and rewards right

Employees who feel appreciated work harder and stay longer, but almost 50% of US workers left their job because they felt underrecognized at work. Building a culture of recognition requires frequent and specific acknowledgment. The Brandon Hall Group found that companies that recognize employees multiple times a month are 41% more likely to see increased employee retention and 34% more likely to see increased engagement.

To make consistent recognition a reality, prioritize both social recognition and monetary rewards, by using a recognition platform that lets employees — in-office, remote, and offline — accumulate and redeem points for rewards that actually matter to them.

3. Recruit the right employees

Find ways to attract first-rate candidates who align with your culture, such as emphasizing your culture on your careers page — things like monthly massages, onsite fitness centers, or generous parental leave policies, or highlighting awards like being a “Best Places to Work”.

Build relationships with professional groups, community college career offices, and other relevant associations to get a more diverse applicant pool. A recent Gallup research study found that Boomers stay engaged while Gen X and Millennials are on the risk of being actively disengaged at work. Companies can tackle this by catering to different generations’ needs and offering professional development, flexible schedules, and remote work.

4. Create an exceptional onboarding experience

Help new employees by educating them on their responsibilities, giving them the agency and resources needed to complete their work, and creating an environment where they feel accepted. Introduce new hires to their teammates, and set them up with a coach so that they have someone on-hand to answer questions. You should also ensure that remote employees aren’t left behind when it comes to onboarding.

Remember to find ways to integrate groups who are returning to work, including new parents, people coming back from extended leave, or contract workers who are signing on full-time.

5. Provide avenues for professional development

Unsurprisingly, there is a direct link between low investment in employee development and staff turnover. On the flip side, supporting professional development and continuous learning uplifts your employees and boosts retention.

Educating your employees, setting up clear career paths, and instituting coaching programs make everyone more creative, engaged, and effective at work. You can also host internal knowledge sharing sessions where employees teach one another new skills.

Ask managers to take chances on employees who have shown interest in other areas. It demonstrates that managers care about their career trajectory and trust them to bring their expertise to other areas of the business.

6. Build a culture employees want to be a part of

Culture is paramount to attracting and retaining top talent. Employees who feel a strong sense of culture connectedness to their company are four times as likely to be engaged at work and 43% less likely to be actively looking for another job. Our AWI 2024 Engagement and Retention report also found that employees would leave their current job for a lower-paying one at a place where they feel supported, cared for and valued.

Developing a standout culture involves rewarding people who act on your company’s values every day. These values should be meaningful to every employee and communicated in a way that everyone can internalize and understand. And if you’re rewriting your core values or trying to establish more company alignment, ask your employees for help.

7. Offer winning incentives

Eighty-five percent of workers feel more motivated to do their best when an incentive is offered. There are endless ways to incentivize your employees. First, ensure that the compensation your organization offers is appropriate 一 it’s a major reason behind employee departures. Then think about other monetary incentives like referral programs, tuition reimbursement, and profit-sharing. Bonuses and raises are always appreciated as well.

Wellness rewards, like gym memberships, can help your employees unwind and take care of themselves. Giving managers a stipend to put on fun events each month, letting employees choose what projects they work on, and providing extra paid time off to rest and recharge are also excellent motivational tools.

8. Manage to retain

Manager and employee relationships matter. Only 28% of employees would strongly recommend their managers to others, while 14% would not recommend their managers at all.

The best managers act as coaches and focus on helping their direct reports reach potential. They’re optimistic, assertive, recognize employee value, and provide actionable feedback. Companies that have made strategic investments in employee development, Gallup finds, see 11% increase in profitability and are twice as likely to retain their employees.

Managers who recognize employees consistently help improve employee confidence and engagement. A culture of recognition matters, and companies that use an employee retention software can train managers to show appreciation frequently and meaningfully.

9. Prevent burnout by focusing on employee wellness

Employee burnout is on the rise, with 76% of employees feeling its effects. Burnout symptoms like a lack of energy, negative emotions, and feelings of isolation are tough to overcome.

The good news is that your organization can intervene. Start with building a wellness program to help improve employees’ emotional and physical health. Try giving employees more flexible hours and make sure that responsibilities and expectations are clear and appropriate. Teach managers to look for signs of burnout and reach out to people who might be struggling and encourage employees to use vacation time, take up a hobby and lead a healthy lifestyle.

Finally, ask your employees for feedback. They probably know exactly what is causing burnout in your organization and have ideas on how to combat it.

10. Maintain open – and ongoing – communication

Authentic, honest, and transparent communication from an organization to its employees, whether they work on-site or remotely, is critical for letting them know what is happening within the organization and what the expectations are. This is especially important during turbulent times with the business or the economy. Employees want to feel supported and connected, and not be caught off-guard by changes within the organization.

In turn, employees should be encouraged to share their feedback, ideas, and concerns with their managers. Employees should feel free to share their opinions and experiences about their workload, job satisfaction, etc.

11. Offer flexibility that employees need

Flexibility benefits both employers and their employees. It shows that companies are committed to helping employees balance their professional and personal lives more effectively. According to Upwork, an estimated 32.6 million US workers will be working remotely by 2025. Companies can offer remote and hybrid work arrangements, create versatile office environments to make it an enjoyable place to work, or adopt collaborative communication channels to keep remote and on-site teams connected.

12. Build a culture of coaching

Employees who say their manager supports their personal and professional development goals are twice as likely to say they would recommend their managers to others. Managers should open doors for employees to participate in new projects and skills training opportunities, help them build meaningful connections, and empower their team to work with autonomy.

It is also important that managers act as coaches, not as traditional managers, who understand employees’ strengths and weaknesses and help them identify the skills they need to succeed at work.

13. Standardize performance reviews

Standardized performance reviews can play a huge role in retaining employees. It provides a consistent and well-organized approach to evaluating employees’ performance and contributions. Practices such as regular feedback cycle or weekly one-on-one meetings can be a great start in creating an engaging workplace where employees feel heard and valued.

14. Provide employee benefits that matter

Companies that offer a comprehensive benefits package can significantly boost employee satisfaction. These benefits are non-salary compensation and include many options from rewards programs to gym membership discounts. Offering benefits that matter to employees starts with understanding your organizational goals and values. Whether it is to promote work-life balance, incentivize desired behaviors, attract higher quality candidates, or decrease turnover, identifying the objectives of your benefits program and offer a wide range of perks ensure that your company is making the most of its available budget.

15. Foster teamwork whenever possible

Managers can create opportunities for collaboration within their team and cross-functionally to promote employee engagement and connections. One way companies can boost teamwork is to encourage employee recognition. When employees show appreciation for one another, it strengthens relationships with their peers and managers. A collaborative culture not only encourages bonding between coworkers, but it also drives higher productivity and employee performance.

Employee retention strategies FAQ

What are the 3 R’s of employee retention?

The 3 R’s of employee retention are recognize, reward, and retain. Organizations that have robust programs in place to focus on these three areas are prioritizing their people and understanding that employees are the core of their business.

What are the 4 pillars of employee retention?

The 4 pillars of employee retention are well-being, company culture, training and development, and rewards and recognition. Each of these pillars contribute to the overall employee engagement at work. Companies that focus on improving these areas help keep employees engaged and connected to their colleagues and work environment, resulting in higher retention rates and job commitment.

Boost employee retention with an employee experience solution

Implementing all 15 strategies above may seem overwhelming, but there are tools to make the process easier. Achievers Recognize is an award-winning recognition platform that helps organizations retain employees through frequent appreciation. Rooted in science, Achievers Recognize is designed to make recognition intuitive and fun for any user. It encourages frequent, meaningful appreciation that will transform your organization’s culture.

Global brands like General Motors and McDonalds rely on Achievers to power their recognition programs. Their trust is well-warranted 一Achievers customers are:

• 2.5 times more likely to see increased employee retention
• 36% more likely to see an increase in employee engagement
• 54% more likely to give their culture of recognition a high rating than customers of other technology providers
• 3.6 times more likely than customers of other providers to give recognition multiple times each month

Achievers Recognize works hand-in-hand with Achievers Listen, a software that gives employees a voice through engagement surveys and always-on chatbots. Its built-in analysis features show where you stand when it comes to employee retention and how to address the key engagement factors that keep employees with your company. Achievers Listen guides managers through the collaborative process of working with their team to address issues that impact engagement and retention, resulting in effective action plans that everyone believes in.

Get the tools you need to move the needle on retention today

Read our 2024 Engagement and Retention report

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In this article:

1. What is employee retention?
2. Why employee retention matters
3. The best 15 employee retention strategies 1. Build employee engagement 2. Get recognition and rewards right 3. Recruit the right employees 4. Create an exceptional onboarding experience 5. Provide avenues for professional development 6. Build a culture employees want to be a part of 7. Offer winning incentives 8. Manage to retain 9. Prevent burnout by focusing on employee wellness 10. Maintain open – and ongoing – communication 11. Offer flexibility that employees need 12. Build a culture of coaching 13. Standardize performance reviews 14. Provide employee benefits that matter 15. Foster teamwork whenever possible
4. Employee retention strategies FAQ
5. Boost employee retention with an employee experience solution

Written by

by Kaylee Chu

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