How to improve employee retention

June 24 2022 - Employees are the heart and soul of every company. They are often the first touch point that your customers experience and are absolutely essential to your business operations. Employee retention is a significant factor in the workplace because staff turnover can disrupt proceedings and increase costs - all of which can impact profitability and hinder an organisation from reaching its objectives. As such, everything possible should be done to reduce employee turnover and generate loyalty from a workforce and team. How can business leaders go about this?

Offer progression opportunities

Employees want opportunities to progress their careers and develop themselves professionally. A workplace that doesn’t offer these opportunities will quickly see an increase in staff turnover. Create learning and development processes to keep employees engaged within the workplace and ensure that progression pathways are clearly outlined and accessible for all. If you don’t offer progression, then your competitors may use this to their advantage by stealing your talent.

Create a healthy workplace environment

Workplaces should be equal, diverse, safe and supportive. These are all essential components of a healthy work environment which is invaluable in generating loyalty from your staff. Employee wellbeing needs to be at the forefront of people strategy and this should entail thorough risk management, supply of personal protective equipment and two-way communication. Meanwhile, people that feel part of a welcoming and progressive team should deliver a better quality of work and new starters are more likely to embed themselves more seamlessly.

Involve employees in the vision

The best companies have a clear mission and vision. This forward-thinking is important not just for strategic purposes but also for employee commitment and engagement. If you can get your employees invested in the vision of the company, their work will more greatly reflect this aim and it should help them to stay committed to the team in the long term. If your employees feel like their work is inconsequential, they are more likely to look elsewhere for more meaningful employment.

Allow flexibility

Post-pandemic, employers that don’t offer more flexible working patterns may struggle to retain employees. Remote, hybrid and office-based contracts are now all equally as viable for a variety of workplaces and allowing some sort of flexibility may be the key to attracting and retaining the best talent. It’s also important to remember that people have lives outside of work, so being flexible when it comes to allowing time for personal commitments or emergencies can help to make your employee feel valued as a person and not just a worker.

Reward loyalty

Loyalty is a precious thing in business, both from customers and staff. Encouraging loyalty through pay and reward structures can help to give employees a clear sense of direction and something to work towards. Perks for long-term service can also make an employee feel valued and give that little extra something that leads to higher job satisfaction and contentment.

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