Actionable Ways to Improve Employee Retention

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It can cost anywhere from 30% to 50% of an employee’s annual salary to recruit and hire a new employee when you have turnover. 

And even with this price tag, many businesses don’t have a plan to keep current employees happy and engaged. Not having a good retention plan can absolutely affect your bottom line. 

Take a look at the top six ways to improve employee retention and keep your employees happy and productive.

Start with Recruiting

The best place to start is the first interaction you will have with potential new employees. Take time to identify the aspects of your business’s culture and strategy that you want to emphasize. Once you have those written down you have the blueprint for the personality traits you want to seek out in a candidate. 

No matter how you’re recruiting, you want to make sure that everyone is on the same page. Be clear about what skills, personality traits, and values you’re looking for in a potential employee. 

Provide Ongoing Education

Learning cannot be an afterthought; it must be a core focus to help employees stay on track and grow.

Education should not stop after a new employee training is complete. When you provide ongoing education, you show your employee that you value them and that you’re invested in their future with the company just as much as you’re invested in the company. 

Provide a clear path for advancement. Be honest and open with your employees about how to do their job the best they can. But also what they need to work on to advance in the company as well. When employees see a future with the company, they are going to stay for the long haul.

Offer the Right Benefits

Benefits go beyond healthcare these days. Employees are always looking for the elusive work/life balance. An employer that helps them achieve it will be recognized as such. Employees will be loyal to a company that realizes they are a whole person and not just an employee. 

Benefits can include a wide range of things like flexible schedules, the option to work remotely full or part-time, gym memberships, or access to virtual work-out classes.

An easy way to assess what benefits your employees will appreciate is to ask. Asking what your employees need, either in person or by an anonymous survey, is an additional way to get their honest feedback. You will be able to see how you, as their employer, can help support them. This will allow them to be 100% focused while they are on the clock.

Leverage Technology

Businesses change more than once a year, and their employees do too. It is smart to check in with your employees more than annually. There are many forms of technology that you can use to gauge whether your workforce is happy or where, in your approach, there are things that need to be adjusted. 

There are paid platforms like TinyPulse that automatically send out targeted questions regularly to keep companies informed on how their employees feel. Businesses can also utilize free platforms like Google Forms to anonymously gather information.

Collecting the data is only the first step; businesses need to be transparent and honest when addressing employee’s concerns. If something, like a new $30,000 copier, isn’t feasible at the moment, then be honest and tell your employees that. They will know they have been heard but that it is not something that can be done right away, but you will keep it in mind for Q2 or next year, or whenever you would honestly be able to do it.

Even if changes do not come instantly, if employees know they are being heard, they are more likely to stay.

Pay Well

This may seem like a difficult task when funds are low and budgets are tight but keep in mind the cost of replacing that employee. Employees will often take another job offer if the salary is just 10% - 20% higher. It will then cost you, the business, 30%-50% of that annual salary to replace that employee. 

Even if a jump in salary can’t be paid out right away, be honest with the employee at hiring. Offer a retention bonus for staying, a 5% jump at 6 months and another 5% jump at 12 months, and then offer them incremental jumps each quarter/year that they stay. This will be an incentive for the employee to stay and work hard, knowing they are working toward a pay raise.

As mentioned above, benefits are significant for employees to help with their work/life balance.

If your budget is too tight to provide raises right now, consider adding other benefits to “pay” your employees with. 

Some great examples include that after 6 months of employment, they can move to a flexible schedule, or after a year, they have the option to work from home. Offering unique benefits like pet insurance, child care stipends, or even in-office massages will help employees feel appreciated and will stay.

Plan for Turnover

No matter how excellent your company is, there will always be some turnover. While the goal is to reduce it, you still want to plan for it. Team up with your HR rep (in-house or outside) and have a succession plan in place for these high-level or challenging to fill positions.

Consider any currently employed people that may be a good fit for a hard-to-fill position? Keep that in mind, and cross-train them or start preparing them for the additional job duties. 

Are there difficult to find skills for a position? Invest in one of your employees to learn that skill on company time. Connect with universities that teach that skill and post jobs on their alumni boards when you have an open position. 

Doing all of the pre-work before someone leaves will help curb the panic that sets in when you find out you need to replace them. If you have taken steps to plan for turnover, then turnover won’t seem like an end of the world event.

Retaining your employees is not just good business sense; you get to be the company that everyone wants to work for. When you value your employees and each of the unique talents they bring, they will be happier, healthier, and more productive. If you show your employees you value them, they will respect you, work harder, and be loyal. All of this adds up to a wonderful place to be.

Do you know your turnover rate? Is this something you track? Comment below.

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