10 Tips for Employee Retention
For employers, the pandemic was a test like no other. It may have been the biggest challenge faced in the world of HR. Unexpected changes to the lifestyle of the workplace meant that employees found themselves working in the comfort of their homes.
Facing challenges tends to make teams stronger. Employees learned new skills, employers invested to make remote work successful and found ways to work together no matter the circumstance. How you handle these challenges reflects the company culture and future growth of the company and having employees want to stick around.
If you are struggling to retain employees here are some tips on how to retain employees.
1. Positive onboarding experience.
Just because you have employed a new employee does not mean the hiring process is over as soon as they start. Month two is the exact same as day one. Ensuring that your employees have a positive and engaging starting experience is important to making sure your recruiting process is going well.
2. Highlight the benefits
Nowadays perks and benefits are the icings on the cake when you are attracting applicants. Whether you offer a competitive salary, hybrid working models or wellness programmes make sure to outline benefits that are suitable for everyone. Having the right benefits in the workplace can improve employee engagement.
3. Promote Flexible/ Hybrid working
Realistically the traditional office 9-to-5, five days a week is becoming a bit old fashioned and not appropriate for most people’s lifestyles. By incorporating flexible working schedules and telecommuting you may find that employees appear more productive and satisfied. It is important to detail flexible/hybrid working arrangements in the employee contracts, so no conflict arises. Bright Contracts now has a hybrid working policy in the handbook section of the software as well as a hybrid tick the box section in the contract section. A sample document detailing the hybrid arrangements is available on the Bright Contracts Ireland website.
4. Recognition
Every employee likes to be appreciated and thanked for all their hard work. Giving employees recognition for a job well done is an important part of ensuring that there is continued employee engagement. Ways of recognising employees could be appreciation at company meetings, giving out regular promotions or employee appreciation events.
5. Highlight Development
Ensure you allow your employees to further enhance their skills to become even better employees. By you supporting employee development will lead to the best employees sticking around.
6. Reward Employees
As well as offering salary incentives why not add other reward programmes to help retain employees. Rewards like offering gift cards, bonuses and additional annual leave will not only attract employees to the company but help retain employees.
7. Provide up to date equipment and software
A huge complaint at many companies is how outdated the equipment and software is within an organisation. Not only does this make employees inefficient but it also indicates that your company does not have any interest in staying up to date with the latest tools and technology.
8. Communication
There is nothing more frustrating than a company with bad communication with its employees. Make sure your company is creating channels for honest and specific feedback to and from employees. Try to focus on direct communication, one-on-one conversations when it is possible. Furthermore, provide employees with digital spaces to allow workers to come together and solve issues without having to go through management.
9. Familiarity with Senior Management
Making sure senior management know that an employee exists will help make employees feel acknowledged and results in employees being loyal and committed to the job. One of the most common complaints voiced during an exit interview is that employees do not feel acknowledged by senior management. The employee should be introduced to senior management on their first day and employees should have the chance to partake in company discussions and have their ideas listened to.
10. Allow the employee to use their talents and skills
A motivated employee wants to contribute work to areas outside of their job description. You should allow your employees to use experiences from the past to their current role to result in an overall positive employee engagement. For example, if an employee has a skill in video editing and they work in the marketing department, allowing them help or have input in the production of a company video, will overall have a positive impact on their role in the company.
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