With the increased levels of competition in today’s marketplace, every company is forced to adapt innovative ways to stay on top and the fact remains that the workforce of any firm is its biggest strength.
The moment any organization fails to recognize the importance of retaining its employees, it surely is setting itself up for failure.
However, those who take the matter of controlling its attrition rate seriously and invest in keeping their employees motivated, competitive and productive are the ones who reap high benefits in the long run.
In this article, this is precisely what we are discussing as we dig deeper into the best strategies for employee retention that a company can adopt.
After all, it is safe to infer that there is a direct link between employee retention and the success of an organization. Enforcing the best employee retention policies leads to improvement in productivity levels, work quality, and stability which ultimately drives sales figures to keep growing.
Understanding Employee Retention Strategies
It is based on the logical reasoning theory that when employees feel valued at their workplace, they get motivated to become as productive as they possibly can and work in a better manner on a daily basis.
This renewed sense of positivity and loyalty will contribute to organizational stability and build the company’s reputation in the market. So, all the measures taken by an organization with the goal of keeping their employees retained become part of their employee retention strategies.
There are various retention strategies and best practices that can be followed to save an organization from productivity losses and also keep the recruitment and training costs under control over a certain period of time.
In addition to cost-saving benefits, good retention policies will also lead to better team morale and knowledge retention within the organization along with sustainable overall growth of the company.
Top 15 Retention Strategies
Let us now discuss the best employee retention strategies :
01. Dynamic Work Arrangements
After battling the pandemic, most people now have recognized the importance of maintaining a healthy work-life balance. They expect their employers to provide flexibility in their work arrangements.
Companies can start by offering hybrid or work-from-home roles depending on the business requirement.
Even if their working model is such that every employee has to report to the office for work, the team leaders and managers should be directed to ensure that no employee is asked to attend work calls or meetings after office hours.
02. Off-duty Requirements
Another bad practice that companies should avoid is forcing an employee to work during their vacation or leave days, even if it is for a small amount of time.
It has been seen that most employees believe that they are never really getting a proper off-day since they are expected to work during holidays as well.
If this becomes a regular practice then it ultimately becomes a reason for an employee to become a disgruntled one who might start getting irritable and dissatisfied since nobody wants to compromise on their personal time after working sincerely during their workdays.
03. Competitive Salary Packages
This remains the top factor as to why any employee searches for a new opportunity outside their current organization. The best way to attract and retain good people is by offering a fair salary to them.
Every employee should be paid as per the market standards for their respective roles so that they do not look for other opportunities elsewhere.
Time and again, it has been proven that people choose to shift jobs for monetary reasons since they realize how huge the gap is between what they are currently earning and what the reasonable salary structure in the industry is for the same role.
04. Non-Salary Perks
Additionally, people are also giving importance to other benefits like medical insurance, good leave policies, bonuses or equity sharing as well while deciding whether to switch their workplace or not.
Earlier, people were only concerned about their salaries but now they expect a wholesome deal and it has been seen that employees often get lured by competitors based on attractive perks and privileges that are not available in their current jobs.
05. Employee Appreciation Programs
The top tier companies are investing in bringing about interesting methods to appreciate their employees in order to retain their top talent nowadays.
From recognizing the top contributors in monthly town halls to sending appreciation emails directly from the CEO’s desk, these programs might not even cost anything additional to the companies but they go a long way in making their talent happy.
06. Transparent Performance Feedback
Everyone working in the firm should have complete clarity on their roles and what is expected from them. So that, the employees do not have any confusion during their performance feedback sessions and the parameters on which they would be evaluated.
This will help them in making better decisions at work and boost company loyalty. If they feel that they are being duped constantly as regards their goals and achievements, then they will surely start to question the entire system and more often than not proceed to look for better roles outside their firm.
07. Training and Development
It has been observed that people like to stay within those firms that build a strong set of employee training and development strategies.
This is due to the fact that the employees know how important it is to their personal as well as professional growth to have access to good training material or coaches in this ever-changing work environment.
If they have a decent training schedule that helps them boost their knowledge and skills then they would love to continue working for such firms.
08. Open Communication
If the channel of communication is open between employees, managers or even top leaders, then people feel heard and safe working in such an environment.
This in turn leads to a non-toxic work culture which everyone craves these days. Nobody would like to stay in a place wherein they receive only orders from their seniors and nobody values their opinions per se.
The communication channel should run both ways and this should be taken care of by both the middle and senior management of any organization. Even among top leaders, this form of effective communication holds a significant amount of importance.
09. Onboarding policies
Anyone joining a new company is at its most vulnerable point to leave and not come back if they have had an unpleasant experience in the first few days. Hence, it becomes imperative to have a good onboarding process that is smooth and hassle-free altogether.
The idea should be to make the new joinee feel welcome and all forms of support should be provided for them to settle in comfortably.
Most companies underestimate the importance of having a decent onboarding strategy and thus end up losing out on good talent and even money since the process to then find a new employee has to begin again.
10. Strengthen the Brand
If the company has a strong employer brand, then it will naturally attract good people to join their workforce who ultimately become their top contributors to success. So, a firm should focus on building a good brand that has a decent reputation in the market so that people look forward to working for them.
11. Positive Work Culture
It goes without saying that everyone looks forward to working in an organization that promotes positivity and good mental health policies. This includes the infrastructure as well which should have decent hygiene and safety protocols to take care of the people working for them.
12. Awards and Recognitions
People like to stay loyal to the companies which makes them feel valued and awards them on a timely basis. If a company has a good award and recognition policy, then they surely can expect a higher percentage of loyal employees.
This would also encourage some amount of healthy competition between colleagues which effectively increases the quality of work and boosts workplace productivity.
13. Employee Engagement Plans
If a company is involved in building effective employee engagement policies then it surely would be rewarded with a more dedicated set of employees who would rarely think about moving someplace else.
14. Effective Change Management
Any firm should be well prepared to handle change effectively when they are going through organizational changes since that is the time when employees feel unsafe and end up making decisions based on their fears.
15. Team Building Exercises
Companies that are known to have good wellness programs and organize regular team-building exercises are the ones that can boast of having a highly motivated set of employees who are ready to give their best at their workplace.
Conclusion
There is no dearth of strategies that a company can adopt to attract and retain employees for a considerable amount of time since some amount of employee turnover is impossible to negate.
If a company is determined to succeed, adopting employee retention strategies serves as a good investment since people make the company and a company is nothing without them.
