Do you work in a company, organisation, or another enterprise? Perhaps you’re studying for a Master in Human Resources, or you’re an HR Business Partner or hiring manager. Whatever the case, if you’re reading this, you probably have an interest in stopping staff turnover and finding ways to retain staff. As organisations navigate today’s competitive job market, effective employee retention strategies have become crucial. This article will share all about stopping staff turnover and discovering the secret formula for employee retention, so continue reading to learn more.
What is Employee Retention?
Employee retention is the art of keeping staff employed, engaged, and remaining in their roles at your organisation. It is the opposite of turnover, which is the term used to describe the exodus of staff and the hiring of new employees. Retention is your organisation’s ability to prevent staff turnover and keep existing staff happy, satisfied, fulfilled, and enjoying their respective roles.
Why Employee Retention Is Important
Employee retention is important for a few key reasons. One of these is to reduce your turnover rate. This is important because, in most cases, it costs a business or organisation far more to find and employ new staff than it does to retain them. Hiring people costs money. It costs your HR team resources to develop and tweak position descriptions, it costs your organisation fees to list on job listing sites such as SEEK and Indeed, and it costs money to onboard new staff. Another important aspect of employee retention is maintaining organizational stability and productivity. High turnover can disrupt workflows, impact team morale, and lead to a loss of institutional knowledge, which can be costly to rebuild. Implementing a core HR system can help organizations monitor key metrics like employee satisfaction, performance, and engagement, allowing for proactive steps to address retention issues. By understanding and addressing the reasons behind employee departures, businesses can create a more supportive and engaging work environment that fosters loyalty and reduces turnover.
All of this adds up and impacts revenue and profit, especially for commercial enterprises. Even nonprofits and government departments can waste serious cash due to high turnover.
In addition to cost savings, employee retention is important for organisational health and knowledge. As staff are retained and people stay in their roles longer, they grow and develop in their jobs and become more efficient and productive workers. This transmutes into better outcomes for the organisation as people work hard, collaborate, and drive results. A healthy organisation is one with engaged staff who are supported to perform their jobs well.
Furthermore, as people remain in jobs longer, their collective knowledge trickles through to the rest of the organisation. An enterprise is better positioned to deal with unexpected challenges, turbulent times, and periods of instability or VUCA environments, which stands for volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. During times such as these, having experienced, knowledgeable, and stable staff members is essential.
Effective Employee Retention Strategies and Models
There are a range of models and strategies you can use to drive employee engagement and, therefore, retention. An engaged staff is more likely to remain at work and work hard for an organisation. The following section of this article will share the key methods and models you can use to keep your staff engaged, happy, and productive at work and, therefore, entice them to remain with your organisation.
Respect and Inclusion Initiatives
Staff who are treated with respect will work harder and better—there is no doubt about it. Team members who are given autonomy, creative licence, and freedom to do their jobs well will perform much better compared to staff who are micromanaged, bullied, or disrespected. It makes perfect sense to treat staff decently and respect them instead of controlling or intimidating them to get the job done.
Inclusion and equity also go a long way. Companies with diversity and inclusion policies and lead roles will attract a wider range of staff from diverse backgrounds who will bring a wealth of experience, knowledge, and expertise to an organisation.
Clear and Transparent Communication
This is a point for the people managers reading this article. You want to ensure that your communication is direct, assertive, clear, and respectful. Ensure that your directions are easy to parse. Clarify any unclear points that staff raise questions about. Also, close the feedback loop when appropriate, informing staff of how they had an impact. Staff require the knowledge and direction to do their jobs well, and clear and open communication is the best way that managers can achieve this and help retain staff.
Staff Recognition and Rewards
Staff who receive recognition and rewards for their labour will feel more engaged and happy at work and want to remain with the company. Ensure that managers and people leaders acknowledge their team members’ hard work and that they give appropriate praise and positive feedback when it is well deserved. For instance, if a staff member solves a tricky problem or has an excellent brainwave, ensure that managers give credit where it is due.
Going beyond mere recognition, consider some rewards as well. How can managers reward staff for a job well done? There are a few ways to do this, including stock options, cash bonuses, employee awards, personalised gifts, gift cards, and team reward activities, such as a fun outing or shared meal on the company’s expense account. A pay rise is also an excellent way to reward staff who stand out with impactful achievements and will help to drive retention, as people stay where they’re rewarded and paid what they’re worth.
Opportunities and Growth
Another way you can create a positive work culture to drive retention is by creating opportunities and growth for team members who deserve it. If someone over-delivers on a specific project or task, perhaps earmark them for a promotion or additional responsibilities with a commensurate pay bump. As part of your regular forecasting and business projections, consider which staff members might be able to lead a new project or initiative. You should always future-proof for the next wave of leadership and make a note of staff who stand out for leadership or specialist roles within your organisation.
Team Building
Also, consider fun team-building activities to help you retain staff. In the work environment, you could run a fun card or board game session aimed at fostering team relationships, cooperation, and connection. You can arrange some fun team-building activities outside of the workplace, such as a trip to an escape room, break room laser tag, bowling, or arcade games session.
Managers to Lead by Example
For managers, you must lead by example to help retain staff, as people often leave managers, not their jobs. This may mean emerging from your office and getting into the thick of the work alongside your team. It also means that managers should be role-modelling positive workplace behaviour, such as giving praise and feedback when required, using assertive communication methods, and addressing unprofessional and problematic behaviours in a fair and considerate way. Staff always appreciate when managers lead by example and demonstrate positive leadership skills and behaviour, which in turn drives employee retention.
Giving Regular Feedback to Staff
Finally, a manager should always give regular positive feedback to encourage growth and development in their teams. You should avoid direct criticism and instead craft your feedback in a coaching manner that aims to bring out the best in the staff that you supervise.
This helpful article shares information about stopping staff turnover and strategies (i.e., the formula) for successful employee retention.
